Scientist #26-23734

Us Tech Solutions; Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 103,155,000 - 121,086,000; Full time

Job summary

Us Tech Solutions seeks a Contract Worker Scientist to support discovery programs in cell biology and assay development. You will establish cell lines and fit-for-purpose cellular assays to characterize compounds and advance mechanistic understanding.

The role requires strong mammalian cell culture, cell engineering, and assay-development expertise, working with biology, chemistry, and protein science teams.

Qualifications

• PhD in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical biology, or a related discipline; or MS with 3–4 years of industry/academic research experience.
• Hands-on mammalian cell culture and cell-engineering experience.
• Experience developing and running plate-based cellular assays; strong data analysis skills.

Responsibilities

• Culture, maintain, and manipulate mammalian cell lines using rigorous practices.
• Develop, optimize, and execute plate-based cell assays for screening and validation.
• Apply luminescence-based, flow cytometry, imaging, and other cellular readouts.
• Plan experiments, troubleshoot issues, and document results clearly.
• Contribute to evaluation and prioritization of compounds across programs.

Skills

Mammalian cell culture

High-content imaging

Confocal and cell-based assays

Education

PhD in cell biology or related

MS with 3–4 years of relevant experience

Job description

$36.00-$40.70 per hour

Thousand Oaks, CA

Contract

Duration: 12 months contract

Shift: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, Monday–Friday.

Job Description:

• The ideal candidate is a hands-on scientist with strong experience developing, optimizing, troubleshooting, and executing cell-based assays using mammalian cell culture systems. Rather than simply having routine cell culture experience, the team is particularly interested in candidates who have used cell-based models to answer research questions, develop assays, generate relevant readouts, and evaluate compounds.

• Strong candidates may bring experience with imaging, plate-based assays, flow cytometry, cell-line development, reagent development, or compound testing and should demonstrate the scientific thinking necessary to troubleshoot challenging experiments and generate high-quality, interpretable data.

• Industry or postdoctoral experience is highly desirable, but the team is flexible on degree level and total years of experience when the candidate has strong, relevant technical capabilities.

• Candidates should be comfortable in a highly hands-on, execution-focused role where project priorities may shift and where they will work against established project objectives rather than independently setting the research direction.

Scientist — Cell Biology and Assay Development

• Client’s Research and Development organization is seeking a motivated Contract Worker Scientist to support emerging discovery programs. This role will establish cell lines and fit-for-purpose cellular assays, then apply these assays to characterize Client compounds and advance mechanistic understanding.

• The successful candidate will be an independent, reliable experimental scientist with strong mammalian cell culture, cell-engineering, and assay-development expertise. They will work closely with a cross-functional team spanning biology, chemistry, and protein science.

Key Responsibilities:

• Culture, maintain, and manipulate mammalian cell lines using rigorous cell-culture practices.

• Generate and characterize engineered cell lines using transfection, viral transduction, genome editing, and stable-cell-line selection.

• Develop, optimize, and execute plate-based cell assays for compound screening, hit validation, target engagement, protein modulation, mechanism of action, and cellular health.

• Apply appropriate assay formats, including luminescence-based reporter assays, complementation assays, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence/imaging, western blotting, qPCR, and other fit-for-purpose cellular methods.

• Support imaging-based experiments and quantitative image analysis when needed.

• Plan experiments independently, troubleshoot technical issues, maintain detailed records, analyze data, and communicate results clearly to the broader project team.

• Contribute to the evaluation and prioritization of compounds across multiple early-discovery programs.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical biology, or a related discipline; or

• MS degree in a related discipline with 3–4 years of relevant industry or academic research experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Recent, hands-on mammalian cell culture experience.

• Demonstrated experience with cell engineering, including transient transfection, lentiviral transduction, and generation of stable cell lines.

• Experience developing and running plate-based cellular assays.

• Experience with protein-degradation, target-engagement, or mechanism-of-action studies is strongly preferred.

• Experience with fluorescence or high-content imaging, image analysis, flow cytometry, antibody staining, and immunofluorescence.

• Familiarity with western blotting, qPCR, reporter assays, and high-throughput or medium-throughput compound testing.

• Ability to independently prioritize day-to-day experimental work, generate high-quality data, and troubleshoot without frequent supervision.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.

Must Have Skill Sets:

• Mammalian cell culture: Strong hands-on experience generating, maintaining and characterizing engineered/stable mammalian cell models.

• High-content imaging: Hands-on experience with high-throughput/high-content fluorescence imaging, including Opera/Opera Phenix or comparable platforms, assay setup, image acquisition and quantitative image analysis.

• Confocal and cell-based assays: Strong experience with confocal microscopy, fluorescence-based cellular assays, experimental troubleshooting and quantitative data analysis.

AI Statement:

By applying, you acknowledge that AI-assisted tools may be used during hiring.