Lab Instrument Manager

Unnatural Products Inc.; Santa Cruz (CA); On-site; USD 48,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

Unnatural Products Inc. in Santa Cruz is seeking an experienced LC-MS / HPLC Systems Specialist to own the performance, uptime, and continuous improvement of our LC and MS systems.

This hands-on role reports to a Principal Scientist and partners with bench chemists to optimize methods and purification strategies. You will manage day-to-day operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of Waters AutoPurification LC-MS systems and the ISQ EM mass spectrometer, perform routine maintenance, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry, engineering, or related field with 5+ years of experience, or a master's with 3+ years.
• Hands-on experience operating and troubleshooting Waters LC-MS systems; Chromeleon and MassLynx software preferred.
• Strong diagnostic skills across hardware, fluidics, electronics, and software; excellent documentation habits.

Responsibilities

• Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot Waters LC-MS systems and ISQ EM mass spectrometer daily.
• Perform preventive maintenance and calibrations to maximize uptime and data quality.
• Develop LC-MS purification methods with chemists; optimize gradients and column choices.
• Build Chromeleon eWorkflows for QC and sample lists; document maintenance logs.
• Lead method design, train chemists, and onboard new instrumentation.

Skills

Instrument troubleshooting

Documentation

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in chemistry/biochemistry/engineering (or related field)

Master's degree (3+ years)

Tools

Chromeleon

MassLynx/FractionLynx

Job description

Location: On-site, 5 days per week, in our Santa Cruz Office.

Reports To: Principal Scientist

Employment Type: Full-Time Hourly, Non-exempt

About the Company

Unnatural Products (UNP) is an integrated biotech company at the forefront of macrocyclic peptide drug discovery. Our mission is delivering first-in-class macrocycle therapeutics for high impact disease areas. UNP's approach couples machine learning-based in silico tools with massively parallel peptide chemistry to enable the discovery and rapid optimization of highly non-natural macrocyclic peptides aimed at extracellular targets, undruggable intracellular targets, and beyond.

Based in Santa Cruz, CA, we are a passionate team of scientists and operators doing high-quality science in a beautiful setting - where innovation and work-life balance go hand in hand. Come shape the future of UNP with us!

The Role

The Chemistry team at Unnatural Products is seeking an experienced LC-MS / HPLC Systems Specialist to own the performance, uptime, and continuous improvement of our LC and MS systems. Reporting to a Principal Scientist, this is a hands‑on instrumentation role: you'll be the go-to person for keeping our analytical and preparative LC‑MS systems running reliably, troubleshooting hardware and software issues, and working closely with bench chemists to get the most out of our methods, columns, and instrument configurations. Deep peptide chemistry expertise is not required. We are looking for someone with strong systems‑level instrument troubleshooting instincts (electronics, fluidics, software, and vendor tools) who takes ownership of equipment reliability. Initial priorities are Waters systems and the ISQ EM. The position combines daily system stewardship, rapid response to unplanned failures, planned preventive maintenance, method development, and purification support to provide a sustained full‑time scope.

What You'll Do

• Own day-to-day operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of Waters AutoPurification LC‑MS systems (pumps, autosamplers, PDA detectors, fraction collection) and the ISQ EM mass spectrometer.
• Perform daily system‑readiness checks, including pump health, rotor seals and check valves, solvent and waste levels, and standard runs to confirm MS performance and retention‑time offsets.
• Respond urgently to LC‑MS system failures that interrupt chemistry work.
• Diagnose and resolve hardware, firmware, software, and communication issues across MassLynx/FractionLynx, Chromeleon, and associated instrument control software.
• Perform routine preventive maintenance, calibration, and qualification to maximize instrument uptime and data quality.
• Maintain and optimize the ISQ EM, including sample‑loop and four‑column fluidics cleaning, pump‑life checks and pump‑head service, UV‑lamp repair, PEEK‑line and UV/MS offset troubleshooting, pump oil and ballasting, and tuning for higher‑mass peptides.
• Partner with chemists across teams to optimize LC‑MS and purification methods - column selection, gradient and flow optimization, MS tuning, and fraction collection parameters (e.g., MIT thresholds, slope‑based peak detection).
• Build and maintain Chromeleon eWorkflows for project QC and routine sample lists; optimize fast and long gradients, fraction files, UV‑versus‑timed collections, prep scale, flow rates, and peak‑split separations.
• Schedule and run preparative purifications from analytical QC data, develop tools that translate analytical methods to prep, and support scale‑up from small‑scale purifications to larger material campaigns.
• Monitor system health and consumables (lamps, columns, seals, solvents, reference standards) and proactively address performance drift before it impacts results.
• Support evaluation and onboarding of new instrumentation, accessories, or configurations to expand analytical and purification capabilities.
• Maintain clear documentation of maintenance logs, troubleshooting history, and method parameters.
• Provide basic support and cross‑training on LC‑MS operation and troubleshooting for other lab members.
• Lead method design and optimization, train chemists, and help define maintenance and onboarding standards for future LC‑MS/HPLC instrumentation.
• Manage procurement and set up of new instruments in the chemistry lab.
• Take on EH&S‑related tasks related to the instruments as capacity allows.

Required Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry, engineering, or a related field plus at least 5 years of relevant industry experience, or a master's degree plus at least 3 years; equivalent hands‑on experience may be considered.
• Significant hands‑on experience operating and troubleshooting Waters LC‑MS systems (MassLynx/FractionLynx and Chromeleon software strongly preferred); experience with the ISQ EM or comparable single‑quadrupole MS is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to independently diagnose and resolve instrument issues spanning hardware, fluidics, electronics, and software/communication layers (e.g., GPIB/IEEE‑488, firmware recovery).
• Solid working knowledge of HPLC/UHPLC fundamentals: column chemistry, gradient method development, detector technologies (UV/PDA, MS), and fraction collection strategies.
• Comfortable working directly with chemists to translate method or purification challenges into instrument‑level solutions.
• Experience with preventive maintenance programs and instrument qualification documentation is a plus.
• Highly organized with strong documentation habits and follow‑through on multi‑step troubleshooting and maintenance processes.
• EH&S experience is a plus.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to bend at the waist, kneel, and crouch to reach, service, and maintain equipment in our R&D labs.
• Ability to lift and carry up to fifty (50) pounds is required.
• Must be able to work on-site in Santa Cruz, full‑time, 5 days per week.

Why Join Us?

You'll have direct ownership over the analytical and purification backbone of a growing biotech's chemistry operation. As our LC‑MS / HPLC Systems Specialist, the reliability of the instruments you maintain directly enables every synthesis and purification project across our pipeline. We value integrity, transparency, curiosity, and a collaborative spirit. If you're passionate about keeping complex analytical instrumentation running at its best in support of great science, we'd love to talk.

This is a full‑time, on‑site role based in our Santa Cruz office, easily accessible by Santa Cruz Metro.

The Lab Instrument Manager position is a non‑exempt role, with an hourly rate of $35-50 per hour. Depending on the candidate's experience and qualifications, there may also be flexibility for the position to be structured as a salaried, exempt role. Title and compensation will be competitive and commensurate with the candidate's career experience, qualifications, and the responsibilities of the position.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants and welcome individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, or any other status protected by law.