Molecular Biologist

Arcadia Science LLC; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking science company as a Molecular Biologist, where your expertise will help transform evolutionary innovations into real-world solutions. In this pivotal role, you'll lead the development of molecular assays and workflows, driving impactful research across diverse organisms. Collaborate with a talented team to design experiments that unravel genotype-phenotype relationships, while mentoring others and ensuring scientific rigor. This is your chance to contribute to an innovative mission in a supportive environment that values diversity and fosters professional growth.

Benefits

Competitive compensation

Health benefits

Equity offering

Flexible working environment

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Molecular Biology or related field.
• 3+ years of relevant scientific experience post-PhD.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute protocols for mutagenesis and targeted sequencing.
• Develop quantitative and qualitative molecular assays.

Skills

Mutagenesis

PCR

NGS method development

Library preparation

Project management

Analytical skills

Scientific communication

Education

Ph.D. in Molecular Biology

Equivalent experience in related fields

Job description

A Bit About Us:

We are Arcadia Science. Arcadia is a science company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to transform evolutionary innovations into real-world solutions by openly developing more efficient, replicable, and sustainable ways to leverage the biology of diverse organisms.

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an experienced Molecular Biologist to join the Core Technologies team and collaborate with scientists across the organization. Core Technologies implements scientific tools and molecular techniques to solve biological research problems, with a particular focus on mapping genotype phenotype relationships.

In this role, you’ll spearhead our efforts in mutagenesis, polymorphism targeted sequencing, and molecular phenotype identification. You will lead molecular assay development, translating pilot projects into robust systems accessible across the company.

Our evolutionary perspective spans the tree of life, and you’ll help drive this vision by designing experiments and developing protocols tailored to diverse, non-traditional, model organisms. You’ll design and optimize novel molecular workflows to interrogate genotype–phenotype relationships, with a focus on developing NGS-based assays beyond traditional short-read sequencing. More broadly, you’ll serve as a molecular biology expert, guiding decision-making and ensuring scientific rigor across experimental efforts.

The ideal candidate is a molecular biology expert with a strong foundation in both industry and academic settings. You bring a first-principles understanding of NGS and assay development, along with a clear perspective on emerging innovations across the field. As a lead experimentalist, you’ll independently design and drive projects while providing mentorship and strategic guidance to the team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and execute protocols for mutagenesis and targeted sequencing of polymorphisms across a broad range of unicellular and multicellular organisms.
• Develop and implement quantitative and qualitative molecular assays to enable screening and functional characterization of diverse molecular phenotypes.
• Ensure quality of resulting datasets is appropriate for downstream applications and assays and processes are well documented and parameterized
• Independently troubleshoot challenges, such as comparing orthologous techniques for capturing relevant genotypic data at higher throughput and lower cost
• Prepare RNA and DNA libraries for sequencing
• Automate or develop higher throughput strategies for recurring molecular biology workflows
• Project manage contract work with outside consultants, CROs, and sequencing vendors
• Manage and guide team performance and provide professional and technical mentorship
• Keep detailed experimental records and documentation (SOPs) for all workflows
• Synthesize ideas, data, and findings into fully open-access pubs and engage with the scientific community to maximize impact and garner feedback that improves the work.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, Biochemistry, or a related field
• At least 3 years of full-time relevant scientific experience post-PhD, including leadership roles
• Hands-on technical experience in the following areas: mutagenesis, PCR, qPCR, RT-PCR, NGS method development, and library prep
• Ability to deeply analyze genomic variants and expression patterns and interpret their phenotypic impacts
• Deep knowledge of molecular assay development and cell line engineering
• Effective project management ability demonstrated by ability to scope work with key stakeholders, create milestones and timelines, identify blockers
• Ability to align team with cross-functional goals and organize effective collaborations
• An excellent verbal and written science communicator for both general and technical audiences. We expect all scientists to actively draft and openly publish their lessons

Compensation:

Successful applicants can expect to be compensated between $130,000-$180,000 with benefits and a highly competitive equity offering, depending on experience level. The position will require the individual to be on-site at our Emeryville, California headquarters.

Application Process:

Interested applicants should send a resume and a one-page cover letter that describes how the molecular biology techniques they are an expert in might advance our comparative evolutionary approach to research.

Arcadia Science is an equal opportunity workplace; we welcome people from all backgrounds and communities. We provide competitive compensation and practical benefits to keep you happy and healthy so that you can do your best work.

Please note that an offer of employment from Arcadia is contingent upon the successful clearance of a reference and background check.