Research Associate I, Analytical Chemistry

Prolific Machines; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 103,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Retirement plan

Flexible PTO

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Life and disability insurance

Career coaching

Mental health support

Free team lunches

Snacks

Social events

Job summary

Prolific Machines in Emeryville, CA is seeking a Research Associate I to join the Analytical Chemistry team. You will quantify and characterize broad classes of therapeutic proteins and support development activities for our photomolecular platform.

Responsibilities include planning and executing experiments to characterize protein expression and quality, performing HPLC/UPLC analyses, maintaining instruments, and documenting results with SOPs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, or closely related field.
• 0–2 years of industry experience; more experience may be required at higher level.
• Experience operating HPLC/UPLC systems for protein therapeutics and interpreting chromatographic data.
• Experience with Agilent OpenLab CDS is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Plan, execute, and interpret experiments to characterize protein expression and biotherapeutic quality.
• Execute analytical assays to support biologics characterization and development activities.
• Routinely operate, maintain, and troubleshoot analytical instrumentation (HPLC/UPLC, CE/cIEF).
• Support method development, optimization, qualification, validation, and troubleshooting activities.
• Document procedures, data, and results in lab notebooks per SOPs and internal standards.
• Coordinate and communicate with stakeholders across multiple experiments.

Skills

HPLC/UPLC operation

Chromatography data interpretation

Education

Bachelor’s in Chemistry/Biology/Biochemistry

Tools

Agilent OpenLab CDS

Job description

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind optogenetic platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology enables dynamic, tunable control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, and reproducibility advantages across the most complex pharmaceuticals and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

We’re looking for a Research Associate I to join the Analytical Chemistry team and collaboratively work with our R&D and Bioprocess teams to quantify and characterize broad classes of therapeutic proteins. A successful candidate in this role will bring excitement for quantification and characterization of biologics and apply it to support development activities for a first-of-its-kind photomolecular platform.

Responsibilities

• Plan, execute, and interpret experimentation to characterize protein expression and biotherapeutic quality.
• Execute analytical assays to support biologics characterization and development activities, including routine and complex therapeutic protein characterizations.
• Routinely operate, maintain, and troubleshoot analytical instrumentation (HPLCs, FPLCs, CE/cIEF).
• Support method development, optimization, qualification, validation, and troubleshooting activities.
• Document experimental procedures, data, and results in high-quality laboratory notebooks in accordance with SOPs and internal standards.
• Coordinate and communicate with stakeholders of multiple experiments.

About You

• Hold a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry or closely related field, with between 0-2 years of industry experience. Candidates without a degree but with similar industry experience are encouraged to apply. Additional industry experience is required at the Research Associate II level.
• Demonstrated experience operating HPLC/UPLC systems for protein therapeutic analysis and interpreting chromatographic data.
• Hands‑on experience operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting HPLC/UPLC instrumentation, ideally Agilent systems with OpenLab CDS.
• Excited to work with internal and external clients to deliver project excellence.
• Have strong communication skills and comfortable sharing knowledge at multiple levels of technical detail.
• Experience supporting analytical development activities for biologics is strongly preferred.

$75,000 - $102,500 a year

This role is salaried, exempt, and paid semi-monthly. Starting salary will be dependent upon specific experience, knowledge, and skillset. The range depending on exact level will typically fall between $75,000-$87,500 for Research Associate I or $87,500-$102,500 for Research Associate II.

Benefits

• Generous equity package in an early stage company
• retirement plan with company contribution
• flexible PTO with healthy time off minimums
• company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance
• life and disability insurance
• career coaching
• mental health support
• free team lunches everyday
• great snacks
• companywide social events!

Diversity

Prolific Machines values diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where all employees can bring their authentic selves to work and have equal opportunities to succeed. Prolific Machines is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Location

The San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville, CA)