Member of Technical Staff, Biophysics / Biochemistry

Decade Bio; Daly City (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Decade Bio in Daly City, CA is seeking a Biophysicist or Biochemist to expand in-house protein characterization and assay development. You will own end-to-end workflows, including expression, purification, and analytical assays, while collaborating with ML engineers to inform design models.

This hands-on role requires independence and strong problem-solving in an onsite lab. The position offers a competitive salary and the opportunity to help translate cutting-edge AI-driven biology into cancer

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience in protein biophysical characterization.
• Breadth across multiple relevant assay types such as SEC, HIC, BLI/SPR, & ELISA-style methods, protein stability, or related workflows.
• Experience owning assays end to end, including optimization and troubleshooting.
• Ability to interpret data and make sound scientific judgements.
• Strong communication skills and comfort working cross-functionally in a small team with diverse technical backgrounds.
• Ability to ramp quickly and operate with a high level of independence.
• Comfort working onsite in a lab-centered role.
• Scientist-level wet lab experience (approx. BS + 6+ years, MS + 4+ years, PhD + 2+ years).

Responsibilities

• Develop and expand in-house protein characterization: method development, execution, troubleshooting and interpretation
• Build out the in-house assay suite — including analytical chromatography (SEC, HIC, RP), ELISA and related binding assays, thermal and colloidal stability — and take our highest-value assays off CRO timelines
• Contribute to protein production and purification workflows — including cell-free expression — that the characterization layer depends on
• Deliver characterization data our team can act on with confidence, including a clear and opinionated view of its precision and limits
• Implement and own assays on our automation stack (Opentrons Flex, iDoT, etc.) — move methods from manual bench protocols to scripted, runs with the throughput and repeatability that informing our models demands
• Work with the ML engineers so characterization data is generated and structured in a form that informs our design models
• Set the specification for CRO work that stays external, and hold partners to it

Skills

protein biophysical characterization

assay development

data interpretation

cross-functional communication

independence

Education

BS + 6+ years wet lab experience

MS + 4+ years

PhD + 2+ years

Tools

SEC

HIC

BLI/SPR

ELISA

Opentrons Flex

iDoT

Job description

Location: Daly City, California (onsite)

About Decade

Decade is an Applied AI Lab rethinking cancer therapy from first principles. We are an elite team of AI scientists, cancer experts and synthetic biologists bringing together cutting-edge AI tools, high-throughput data generation, drug design and a deep understanding of cancer biology. We believe in innovation, rigor, speed, agency and the patient perspective. Decade is well funded with a very strong investor consortium and leading academic advisors.

The opportunity

Decade is doing large-scale biophysical characterization of proteins to validate therapeutic candidates and to generate training data for Decade’s models. We are hiring a Biophysicist or Biochemist to help build out this capability. Near-term success is operationalizing protein expression and integrating key assays in the context of running programs. In the medium-term, success is deploying these protocols workflows for scalability and increasingly contributing to Decade’s therapeutic programs. In the long-term, you’ll be an early hire at an applied AI lab where progress is measured by our impact on cancer treatment.

This is a hands-on lab role for someone who enjoys both running assays and thinking like an owner: troubleshooting what is not working, interpreting what the data means, and helping shape what should happen next.

What you’ll do

• Develop and expand in-house protein characterization: method development, execution, troubleshooting and interpretation
• Build out the in-house assay suite — including analytical chromatography (SEC, HIC, RP), ELISA and related binding assays, thermal and colloidal stability — and take our highest-value assays off CRO timelines
• Contribute to protein production and purification workflows — including cell-free expression — that the characterization layer depends on
• Deliver characterization data our team can act on with confidence, including a clear and opinionated view of its precision and limits
• Implement and own assays on our automation stack (Opentrons Flex, iDoT, etc.) — move methods from manual bench protocols to scripted, runs with the throughput and repeatability that informing our models demands
• Work with the ML engineers so characterization data is generated and structured in a form that informs our design models
• Set the specification for CRO work that stays external, and hold partners to it

What success looks like

In the first few months, success in this role may look like:

• Bringing several priority assays online internally
• Reducing dependence on multi-week external turnaround times
• Improving the quality and usefulness of characterization data for downstream teams
• Troubleshooting fragile or misleading assay outputs quickly and effectively
• Helping the team improve scientific throughput as programs advance

What we’re looking for

• Strong hands-on experience in protein biophysical characterization
• Breadth across multiple relevant assay types such as SEC, HIC, BLI/SPR, & ELISA-style methods, protein stability, or related workflows
• Experience owning assays end to end, including optimization and troubleshooting
• Ability to interpret data and make sound scientific judgements.
• Strong communication skills and comfort working cross-functionally in a small team with diverse technical backgrounds.
• Ability to ramp quickly and operate with a high level of independence
• Comfort working onsite in a lab-centered role
• Scientist-level wet lab experience (approx. BS + 6+ years of relevant experience, MS + 4+ years, PhD + 2+ years)

Nice to have

• Prior experience in small or midsize biotech
• Cell-free expression experience
• Experience in automation-forward lab environments
• Computational fluency or comfort working around AI-enabled scientific tools
• Experience coordinating or integrating CRO work

Why this role is compelling

• High degree of agency in solving hard problems in an energized environment
• Meaningful scientific leverage on which molecules move forward
• Small-team environment where strong work is visible quickly
• Opportunity to help build internal systems and assays, not just inherit a narrow execution lane
• Mission-driven work in oncology with a high pace of learning
• Company is well-funded

Compensation: $125,000–$130,000

Candidates must be able to complete I-9 employment eligibility verification requirements, as mandated by U.S. law, to confirm their identity and authorization to work in the United States. Candidates must be permanently authorized to work in the United States. We do not provide immigration support or employment-based visas for this role. Relocation assistance is not offered.

Decade Bio is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.