Scientist, Product & Process Development

OxyLo; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 77,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Discretionary annual bonus

Health insurance options

401(k) with match

Paid time off (4 weeks)

Job summary

OxyLo in San Diego is seeking an early-career scientist to take substantial ownership of HypoxyWells manufacturing, product development, and scientific validation across the full lifecycle. This on-site role requires hands-on lab work and pilot production, with clear communication to internal stakeholders.

You will lead hydrogel chemistry, QC, data analysis, and collaboration on grants, publications, and IP, translating academic methods into a scalable commercial platform in a dynamic startup

Qualifications

• PhD in bioengineering, materials science, chemical engineering, cell biology, biophysics, or adjacent field.
• 0–2 years of industry experience; recent PhDs/postdocs encouraged to apply.
• Publications or patents showing independent research capability.
• Hands-on hydrogel experience with polymer functionalization and cross-linking.
• Mammalian cell culture with aseptic technique in shared facilities; 3D/organoid work is a plus.
• Data analysis with R, Python, MATLAB; ability to generate figures and statistics.
• Experience with AI-assisted research tools and automation is desirable.
• Bioprinting, microfluidics, instrumentation, and firmware/control loops
• Experience turning lab processes into manufactured products; SBIR grant writing a plus.

Responsibilities

• Product science ownership: fabrication, optimization, QC and validation of HypoxyWells.
• Design, perform and document experiments; develop application notes and publications.
• Manufacturing optimization: establish workflow, batch records, release testing, scaling.
• Product development: prototyping, feasibility studies, QC protocols, IP exploration.
• Grants: co-write NIH SBIR applications and potentially lead projects.
• Scientific customer support: translate experimental needs into practical oxygen-control workflows.

Skills

Hydrogel tech

Cell culture

Data analysis

AI-assisted workflows

Bioprinting

Microfluidics

Firmware/controls

Lab process scale-up

SBIR grants writing

Electrical robotics hobby

Education

PhD in bioengineering or related

Tools

Python

MATLAB

R

Excel macros

Job description

Company Description

OxyLo is a grant-funded research tools company in San Diego developing technologies that let scientists precisely control oxygen in standard cell-culture workflows. Conventional incubators expose cells to approximately 18–19% O₂, while most tissues experience substantially lower oxygen tensions. Our lead product, HypoxyWells, uses drop-in inserts to establish defined oxygen conditions within individual wells of standard culture plates, without hypoxia chambers, gas tanks, or chemical hypoxia mimetics. Our current $1.4M NIH SBIR Fast-Track funds approximately 18 months of planned operations independent of additional revenue or awards. We are also growing commercial revenue with 30 researchers already using and evaluating our products and have three additional grant programs in development.

Role Description

We are hiring an early-career scientist to take substantial ownership of HypoxyWells manufacturing, product development, and scientific validation as the third full-time employee at OxyLo. This is not a narrow assay-development position as you will work across the full life cycle of a scientific product: from hydrogel chemistry and cell experiments through manufacturing, QC, customer applications, publications, and eventual scale-up. For a scientist who wants to learn how to translate academic research tools into commercial products, this role offers and expects broad ownership over the role. This is a full-time, on-site role based in San Diego, CA, requiring hands‑on work in the lab and pilot production environments, documentation of findings, and clear communication of results to internal stakeholders.

Essential Functions And Responsibilities

Your time will be approximately 60–70% laboratory product development and manufacturing science, with the remainder divided among application development, customer technical support, grants, and new-product prototyping.

• Product science (the core). You will be in charge of HypoxyWells fabrication, optimization, QC, and validation in novel experimental contexts. Support defined product development efforts on other product lines, including experimental design, prototyping, functional testing, and data analysis.
• Application notes and papers. Design, perform, and write experiments into application notes for customer reference. Further expand these application notes into smaller peer-reviewed methods or application-focused publications.
• Manufacturing and optimization. You will help convert our process into a more documented, reproducible manufacturing workflow, establishing yield targets, cycle-time metrics, in-process controls, batch records, release testing for enzyme activity, sterility, and endotoxin, and transition SKUs to more scalable production methods.
• Product Development. We have a product roadmap of two new technologies in development that need fundamental prototyping, feasibility studies, assay development, batch record creation, and QC protocol development. In addition, you will be expected to help develop new intellectual property with our team to expand our platform into new areas.
• Grants. You will co-write six applications over the next nine months NIH SBIR applications with Tom and Erin and may serve as scientific lead or PI on projects aligned with your area of ownership.
• Scientific customer support. You will occasionally work directly with researchers adopting our products, helping translate unusual experimental requirements into practical oxygen‑control workflows. This requires comfort discussing experimental design directly with customers across different areas of biology.

Required Education And Experience

• PhD in bioengineering, materials science (biomaterials), chemical engineering, cell biology, biophysics, or adjacent.
• 0–2 years of industry experience expected; prior industry experience is not required. Recent PhD graduates and current postdocs are encouraged to apply.
• Evidence of rigorous, independent research through publications, patents, technical methods, conference presentations, or other substantial research outputs.
• Hands‑on hydrogel experience, ranging from preparation and use of commercial hydrogel systems to polymer functionalization, cross‑linking chemistry, or de‑novo biomaterial synthesis. Deep polymer‑synthesis expertise is welcome but not required.
• Mammalian cell culture with aseptic sterile technique in a shared facility; multiple cell types, 3D or spheroid/organoid work a strong plus.
• Data analysis and programming experience, including using R, Excel macros, Python, MATLAB, etc. for analysis, statistics, and/or figure generation.
• Common molecular and cell biology assays, including qPCR, Western blot, immunofluorescence, ELISA, bulk RNA‑seq, etc.
• Comfortable working with AI‑assisted research and automation tools. We use AI extensively for coding, literature workflows, internal operations, data analysis, and prototyping, including an MCP‑connected internal system and agent‑built pipelines. We are looking for someone who already uses AI as a practical scientific or productivity tool and is interested in building increasingly sophisticated workflows.
• Bioprinting experience
• Electrical engineering, robotics, or hobby electronic projects experience.
• Microfluidics or instrumentation, including firmware and control loops
• Any experience turning a lab process into a manufactured product, at any scale
• SBIR, F31/32, or foundation grant writing experience

Compensation and terms

This position is grant‑funded and the base salary of $85,000 is fixed for the current funding period. In addition to base compensation noted above, you will be eligible for meaningful stock options, discretionary annual bonus, company‑paid health insurance options, 401(k) with a small company match, and four weeks paid time off.Total compensation package is $108,000.