Molecular Biologist / Associate Scientist

Junipero Therapeutics; Durham, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

BioLabs Durham is seeking a Molecular Biologist / Associate Scientist to run in vitro assays, treat cells, and analyze data to guide ASO and molecule design. You will own experiments from setup through analysis and maintain cell lines in a small team.

You will troubleshoot and keep detailed records, reporting to the founder. This full-time, on-site role offers broad ownership and impact on experimental direction.

Qualifications

• A deegree in biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related field and substantial bench experience.
• An advanced degree is helpful but not required.
• You want to understand why a result came out the way it did, not just whether it was positive or negative.
• You can take an experiment from a question to a result without needing supervision.
• You keep detailed records another scientist can follow.

Responsibilities

• Run assays to determine molecule activity (RT-qPCR, western blot, flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation).
• Own experiments from setup through analysis and decide what to test next.
• Do cloning, plasmid prep, RNA extraction and other molecular biology tasks.
• Turn screening results into the next set of ASOs and molecule designs to test.
• Maintain cell lines and generate consistent, analysis-ready samples.
• Troubleshoot experiments and avoid simply repeating them.
• Keep clear experimental records for reproducibility.
• Help keep the bench stocked and the lab running.

Skills

Hands-on bench experience

Detail-oriented

Independent researcher

Record keeping

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in biology/biochemistry/mol. biology

Advanced degree helpful but not required

Tools

RT-qPCR

Western blot

Flow cytometry

Immunoprecipitation

Cloning

RNA extraction

Job description

Molecular Biologist / Associate Scientist

This is the in vitro half of the platform. You run the experiments that tell us whether a molecule did what we designed it to do. You treat the cells, measure what happened to the target, figure out why, and use that result to decide what we make and test next.

What you will do

• Run the assays that tell us whether a molecule worked, including RT-qPCR, western blot, flow cytometry, and immunoprecipitation
• Own experiments from setup through analysis: treat cells, collect samples, analyze the data, and decide what should be tested next
• Do the cloning, plasmid prep, RNA extraction, and other molecular biology that supports those experiments
• Turn screening results into the next set of ASOs and molecule designs to test
• Maintain cell lines and generate consistent, analysis-ready samples
• Troubleshoot experiments when the result is unexpected rather than simply repeating them
• Keep clear experimental records so another scientist can understand exactly what was done and reproduce it
• Help keep the bench stocked and the lab running

What we are looking for

• A degree in biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related field, plus substantial hands-on bench experience. An advanced degree is helpful but not required
• You want to understand why a result came out the way it did, not just whether it was positive or negative
• You can take an experiment from a question to a result without needing someone beside you at every step
• You keep detailed records another scientist can follow
• You are comfortable being the person responsible for making an assay work

Nice to have

• Flow cytometry, particularly multiparameter experiments and downstream analysis
• Experience with oligonucleotides, ASOs, or RNA biology
• Induced proximity, degraders, or other approaches that recruit endogenous cellular machinery to a target
• Click chemistry or experience working with bifunctional molecules
• Genetic perturbation approaches such as CRISPR or siRNA
• Experience in a startup or an academic lab that operated at a similar pace

The details

This is a full-time, on-site role at BioLabs Durham, 701 West Main Street.

You will report directly to the founder. The team is small, which means the scope is wide. You will have real ownership over your experiments and a say in how we build and run the lab.