Molecular Diagnostics R&D Associate

Oncodea; Saint Paul (MN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

PTO and paid holidays

Professional growth opportunities

Job summary

Oncodea seeks a passionate Molecular Diagnostic Associate to advance our AI-native, blood-based cancer detection platform. You will work with leadership on clinical sample operations, data capture, and bioinformatics workflows.

The role spans general R&D lab duties, data analysis, and protocol development in a fast-paced startup environment; strong attention to detail and teamwork are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, medical laboratory sciences, biophysics, molecular diagnostics, or a related discipline.
• 1+ years of combined experience across academic research labs, biotech industry, or biotech startups (internships and undergraduate research count).
• Strong analytical skills and scientific curiosity.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Exceptional laboratory notebook and documentation habits.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Strong time-management skills and the ability to juggle multiple parallel tasks.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel; working familiarity with Python and/or R for data handling.
• Exposure to bioinformatics or data-science workflows.
• Willingness to work in a fast-paced, dynamic, lean-startup environment.
• Comfort working in BSL-2 and/or clean-room environments following appropriate safety practices.
• Hands‑on familiarity with basic molecular biology techniques, including nucleic acid purification and RNA analysis.

Responsibilities

• Assist with molecular pattern analysis on a large set of human biospecimens using our nanophotonic detection platform.
• Catalog and maintain the clinical sample database; support sample accessioning, tracking, and chain-of-custody documentation.
• Process biospecimens (serum, plasma, and related) and ensure proper aliquoting, labeling, and long-term storage consistent with IRB and HIPAA requirements.
• Handle general lab operations: ordering, inventory, reagent qualification, equipment logs, and safety/waste management.
• Follow and help draft SOPs for molecular biology and analytical workflows; contribute to continuous process improvement.
• Maintain detailed, audit-ready laboratory notebooks and electronic records (GDP / ALCOA+).
• Run routine molecular pattern acquisition and QC; help refine and troubleshoot the analytical workflow.
• Support clinical study execution and CLIA-LDT lab setup, including sample kitting, shipment, and receipt verification with external sites.
• Assist with basic RNA and protein analysis as needed to support research projects.
• Perform introductory bioinformatics and data-science tasks: data inspection, QC dashboards, and reproducible analysis scripts.

Skills

Molecular biology

Biochemistry

Data analysis

Python

R

Lab documentation

Communication

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemistry or related discipline

Tools

Excel

Python

R

LIMS

Job description

Oncodea seeks a passionate Molecular Diagnostic Associate to advance our AI-native, blood-based cancer detection platform. You will work with leadership on clinical sample operations, data capture, and bioinformatics workflows.

The role spans general R&D lab duties, data analysis, and protocol development in a fast-paced startup environment; strong attention to detail and teamwork are essential.