Biochemistry & Protein Assembly Research Associate

Merge Labs; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Merge Labs is a frontier research lab pursuing brain-computer interfaces that couple biology with AI. The Research Associate will work with scientists to design and execute biochemical and cell-based experiments, studying protein assemblies and interactions to guide engineering efforts.

You will document results, maintain careful records, and contribute to hypotheses and follow-up studies, with emphasis on collaboration and rigorous experimental methods.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in biochemistry, structural biology, or a related field.
• Experience using biochemical or biophysical methods to characterize protein structure, dynamics, or protein-protein interactions.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, transfection, and cell-based assays.
• Curiosity, attention to detail, and a systematic approach to troubleshooting.
• Strong documentation, communication, and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute assays to uncover how protein complexes assemble in a poorly understood biochemical system.
• Express and purify proteins, reconstitute complexes, and perform cell-based assays to determine the roles of individual proteins.
• Characterize how variants affect protein function to guide engineering efforts.
• Analyze and present findings to help shape hypotheses and design follow-up experiments.
• Maintain detailed experimental records and organized protein, plasmid, and cell inventories.

Skills

Biochemistry

Protein engineering

Cell biology

Data analysis

Education

Biochemistry degree

Structural biology background

Tools

Cloning

Mutagenesis

Plasmid prep

Cell culture

Job description

Merge Labs is a frontier research lab pursuing brain-computer interfaces that couple biology with AI. The Research Associate will work with scientists to design and execute biochemical and cell-based experiments, studying protein assemblies and interactions to guide engineering efforts.

You will document results, maintain careful records, and contribute to hypotheses and follow-up studies, with emphasis on collaboration and rigorous experimental methods.