Scientist

Cytera CellWorks; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A biotechnology firm in Greater London is seeking a high-growth stem cell scientist to join their biology team. You will develop automated cell culture protocols and collaborate with hardware and software teams on R&D projects. The ideal candidate should have a PhD or MSc with considerable experience in cell biology, particularly in ESC/iPSC culture optimization, and should possess excellent communication and teamwork skills. This role offers a competitive salary with stock options in a collaborative environment with great learning potential.

Benefits

Competitive salary with stock options

Collaborative team environment with learning potential

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience optimising human ESC/iPSC culture and differentiation protocols.
• Experience with core molecular cell biology techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to execute complex projects with dependencies.

Responsibilities

• Characterising automation impacts on cell types.
• Developing automated cell culture protocols.
• Collaborating on R&D projects related to automated cell handling.

Skills

Optimising human ESC/iPSC culture

Experimental design

Communication skills

Education

PhD in cell biology or related discipline

Tools

DNA/RNA isolation

qPCR

Flow cytometry

Job description

About Us

You rarely get the chance to change an entire industry. But that's the position we find ourselves in. Join us, and you’ll help scale cures to patients that need them sooner.

We’ve developed fully-automated cell manufacturing sites powered by custom robotics - to scale therapies to millions of patients. Last year, patients were cured of diseases like Parkinson’s and vision loss using stem-cell derived cells - but today these Regenerative Medicines are produced by hand, meaning they’re too expensive and hard to scale.

We’ve announced partnerships across multiple therapies so far ranging from Parkinson’s, to hearing loss, to bone repair - and raised $24m to expand into the market faster, and accelerate our development! Within the next 12-18 months, neurons grown on our machines will be going into Parkinson’s patient brains.

We’ve assembled a world-class team to take on this challenge, with ex-Dyson engineers and Nature-published scientists working hand-in-hand. You can learn more about your potential Mytos teammates here: Team

Mytos is backed by Y Combinator, the most successful startup program in the world which produced companies such as AirBnb, Dropbox, and Ginkgo Bioworks.

The Role

We are looking for a high-growth stem cell scientist to join our biology team and push the limits of automation in cell therapy manufacture. This is a unique opportunity to learn how to execute projects at the interface of engineering and biology.

We believe in autonomy, and you should expect to run your own projects and attempt to overcome hurdles you encounter, with team members always available to advise as you require.

You will be interfacing with multiple disciplines across biology, hardware and software, so expect to have the opportunity to learn about these different disciplines as part of the role.

Core Responsibilities

• Characterising how different approaches to automation impact adherent cell lines, human pluripotent stem cells (iPSC or ESC) and differentiated cell types.
• Develop and validate automated cell culture protocols for various cell types, with an emphasis on stem cell derived regenerative therapies.
• Work collaboratively with hardware and software teams on research and development projects related to automated cell handling.
• Provide direct support and technical assistance to customers using Mytos’ automated cell culture platforms.
• Contribute to general lab and inventory management tasks.
• The role may require occasional weekend work and travel to customer sites (national and international).

Required Skills & Experience

• PhD (or MSc with >2 years industry experience) in cell biology or a related discipline.
• Hands-on experience optimising human ESC/iPSC culture and differentiation protocols in a process development capacity.
• Experience with core molecular cell biology techniques, such as DNA/RNA isolation, qPCR, immunostaining, image analysis, flow cytometry and ELISA.
• Robust experimental design and data analysis capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage and execute complex projects with multiple dependencies.
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills.

Desired Qualities

• Prior experience working in process development (PD) teams or manufacturing science and technology (MSAT) teams for cell therapy production.
• Familiarity with regulatory guidelines (MHRA, EMA or FDA) surrounding the development and GMP manufacture of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).
• Familiarity with technology transfer into GMP.
• Experience working with iPSC derived neuronal cell types including dopaminergic neurons and retinal pigmented epithelial cells.
• Experience working on the development of hardware systems that interface directly with biology.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with stock options
• Collaborative team environment with very high potential to learn new skills