Scientific Operations

Medra; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

401k

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Unlimited PTO

Weekday lunches and dinners

Job summary

Medra is hiring for a hands-on Scientific Operations role focused on preparation, readiness, and continuous improvement of ML001 in a high-utilization lab.

You will own maintenance, calibration, inventory systems, and SOPs while coordinating with scientists, engineers, and external vendors to ensure audit-ready operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in biology, biochemistry, or a relevant scientific discipline.
• Proven track record of operational or program excellence in a fast-paced environment or biology lab.
• Familiarity with wet lab environments or ability to quickly develop scientific context on the job.
• Demonstrated experience running a BSL-2 program.
• Experience building and maintaining SOPs, calibration and PM programs, and inventory systems.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day lab operations to ensure instruments, consumables, and lab spaces are ready to support scheduled work.
• Own the preventive maintenance and calibration program across all lab equipment, coordinating vendors and ensuring record accuracy.
• Design and operate a scalable lab inventory program with par levels, reorder triggers, and SKU-level vendor management.
• Own the lab asset register and lifecycle planning, including warranty tracking and service contracts.
• Develop, implement, and maintain SOPs and lab protocols.
• Coordinate lab facilities work (HVAC, cold storage, BSL-2 buildout) with external vendors.
• Monitor workflow and resource utilization to identify bottlenecks and improvements.
• Lead onboarding for scientists and engineers on lab logistics and safety norms.
• Collaborate with operations and procurement on capital equipment requests and service agreements.
• Partner with science and engineering teams on workflow design and automation integration.

Skills

Program management

Lab operations

Inventory management

Vendor coordination

SOP development

Quality systems

Safety compliance

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in biology/biochemistry/related

Tools

LIMS

ELN

Job description

What We’re Building:

At Medra, our mission is to use AI, robotics, and biology to accelerate life science research, with the ultimate goal of eradicating disease. We have been quietly building the foundational layers of our Physical AI Scientist platform:

Physical AI that can operate scientific instruments with human-level dexterity.

Scientific AI that can analyze results, reason about next steps, and close the loop autonomously.

The Team:

• We’re a team of passionate, mission-driven engineers and scientists from companies like Tesla, Amazon, SpaceX, and Neuralink. We’re collaborative and love moving fast, both with our product and on team trips skiing or go-karting!
• As a team, we love nerding out about engineering and robotics — plus other topics like race cars or cooking. We like learning new things and then sharing our new knowledge with each other.
• Our team is opinionated and straightforward. We don’t mind intense discussions about design tradeoffs. If we have arguments or miscommunication, we resolve conflicts quickly and empathetically.

The Role:

The Scientific Operations role is a highly operational role responsible for the performance, readiness, and continuous improvement of ML001. This person brings strong program management instincts to a scientific environment — owning lab readiness, asset management, inventory, safety and compliance, and facilities coordination. Scientific Operations works closely with scientists, engineers, and the operations team to ensure ML001 runs as a high-utilization, audit-ready facility.

In This Role, You Will:

• Manage day-to-day lab operations to ensure instruments, consumables, and lab spaces are ready to support scheduled work
• Own the preventive maintenance and calibration program across all lab equipment — building the system, coordinating vendors, and ensuring record integrity
• Design and operate a scalable lab inventory program, including par levels, reorder triggers, audit cadence, and SKU-level vendor management
• Own the lab asset register and lifecycle planning, including warranty tracking and service contract management
• Develop, implement, and maintain SOPs and lab protocols
• Manage lab-level facilities work, including HVAC, cold storage, BSL-2 buildout, and equipment layout, in coordination with external facilities vendors
• Continuously assess workflow and resource utilization, identifying bottlenecks and recommending improvements
• Build and run the onboarding program for scientists, research associates, and engineers on lab logistics, safety, and operating norms
• Partner with the operations and procurement teams on capital equipment requests, vendor contracts, and service agreements
• Partner with science and engineering teams on workflow design, instrument requirements, and integration with automation systems

Let’s Talk If You Have:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in biology, biochemistry, or a relevant scientific discipline
• Proven track record of operational or program excellence — whether through management consulting, building systems and processes in a fast-paced environment, or standing up or managing a biology laboratory
• Familiarity with wet lab environments or a strong ability to quickly develop scientific context on the job
• Demonstrated experience running a BSL-2 program
• Track record of building and maintaining SOPs, calibration and PM programs, and inventory systems
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication

Bonus Points If You Have:

• Prior experience as a bench scientist
• Experience supporting multi-customer or contract research environments
• Experience scaling a lab through a buildout or growth phase
• LIMS or ELN implementation experience
• Familiarity with lab automation and robotics platforms
• Experience operating within ISO 9001, GLP, or comparable quality systems

What we offer:

• An opportunity to fundamentally change the way that scientific research happens
• Fast-paced, creative, and collaborative work environment
• Significant equity ownership
• 401k
• Medical insurance and dental Insurance
• Unlimited PTO
• Weekday lunches and dinners

This position is 100% in-person, you must be able to come on-site to our San Francisco office. We offer relocation benefits for applicants who need to relocate.

Medra is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies. We value diversity at Medra and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.