Scientific Operations Associate

Merge; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Merge Labs in San Francisco is seeking its first Sci Ops Associate to own repeatable scientific operations, from cell line banking and mycoplasma testing to reagent preparation and protein purification. This hands-on role requires spending up to 90% of time in the lab and collaborating with researchers to establish SOPs that keep experiments running smoothly.

You will also prepare stocks and gels, run QC on outputs, support cloning workflows, and assist with LabOps duties such as incubator

Qualifications

• Hands-on wet-lab experience, including sterile technique and cell culture.
• Experience with protein expression/purification and multi-well plate workflows.
• Ability to work independently on repetitive, detail-critical tasks.
• Experience writing or following SOPs in a research or regulated lab environment.

Responsibilities

• Perform and own routine cell biology tasks: mycoplasma testing for all cell lines, cell line banking and expansion, and cryovial inventory monitoring.
• Prepare lab stocks: dissolving, pH adjustment, filtering, and aliquoting media, buffers, and antibiotic stocks.
• Make purified proteins and glycerol stocks to support recurring scientific workflows.
• Pour agar plates with appropriate antibiotics and prepare competent cells with transformation efficiency QC.
• Coordinate contamination response and assist with lab operations as needed.
• Write and maintain SOPs for all recurring tasks.
• Support general cloning workflows to reduce prep burden on scientists.

Skills

Hands-on wet-lab experience

Sterile technique

Cell culture

Protein expression/purification

SOP writing

Job description

Merge Labs is a frontier research lab with the mission of bridging biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability, agency and experience. We’re pursuing this goal by developing fundamentally new approaches to brain-computer interfaces that interact with the brain at high bandwidth, integrate with advanced AI, and are ultimately safe and accessible for anyone to use.

About the team

The Lab Operations team is the operational backbone of Merge Labs, responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of our R&D environment—from conceptualizing and building the physical infrastructure to operating it at scale. We maintain a wide scope of ownership that spans Scientific Operations, Equipment Management, Safety, Lab Facilities, Procurement, and Logistics, ensuring that every aspect of the laboratory functions seamlessly. We view operations not as a support function, but as a catalyst; our mission is to create a world-class Lab Operations System that not only enables our scientists and engineers but, through integrated systems and operational excellence, actively accelerates their progress.

About the role

As our first Sci Ops Associate, you will own the repeatable scientific operations that keep our researchers unblocked. From cell line banking and mycoplasma testing to reagent preparation, protein purification, making glycerol stocks, and gel sample casting, you ensure that when a scientist walks into the lab they can immediately run experiments with no prep time wasted. This is a highly hands‑on role: you should be comfortable spending up to 90% of your time in the lab. You will collaborate with researchers, anticipate needs, establish SOP, run QC on the things you make, and continuously improve the quality and efficiency of our methods.

In this role, you will:

• Perform and own routine cell biology tasks: mycoplasma testing for all cell lines, cell line banking and expansion (especially common lines like HEK cells), and cryovial inventory monitoring.
• Prepare lab stocks: dissolving, pH adjustment, filtering, and aliquoting media, buffers, and antibiotic stocks.
• Make purified proteins and glycerol stocks to support recurring scientific workflows.
• Pour agar plates with appropriate antibiotics and prepare competent cells with transformation efficiency QC.
• Fabricate lab‑specific consumables that cannot be purchased (e.g., custom gel casting).
• Coordinate contamination response.
• Support general cloning workflows to reduce prep burden on scientists.
• Assist with LabOps duties as needed: bench/TC area resets, incubator maintenance, autoclave scheduling, and shelf stocking.
• Write and maintain SOPs for all recurring tasks.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• Hands‑on wet‑lab experience, including sterile technique, reagent preparation, cell culture, protein expression/purification, and multi‑well plate workflows.
• A track record of executing repetitive, detail‑critical work reliably and independently.
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative approach to working across scientific and operations teams.
• Strong organization skills and the ability to keep materials, schedules, and documentation clear and current.
• Curiosity about the science and awareness of project needs, so you can understand why the work matters and anticipate what researchers will need next.
• Experience writing or following SOPs in a research or regulated lab environment.
• Comfort operating in an early‑stage environment where priorities shift and structure is still being built.
• Genuine interest in enabling cutting‑edge research, even when your own day‑to‑day work is behind the scenes.

If you're excited about this role but don't meet every qualification, please apply. As we build, we're hiring for complementary strengths to form a high‑impact team.

For more information about hiring at Merge, please visit our Hiring FAQ

Merge Labs does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, family status, ancestry, citizenship, U.S. military (state and federal) and veteran status, or any other legally protected status. It is our intention that all applicants be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions are based on job related factors. We are an equal opportunity employer.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made by emailing [e-mail].