Senior Research Associate/Associate Scientist, Stem Cell Biology

Conception; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Conception is seeking an experienced stem cell scientist to maintain human iPSC/ESC cultures with meticulous care and ownership of culture quality. The role emphasizes deep expertise in culture health, contamination prevention, and reducing batch-to-batch variability, with a hands-on focus in a protected lab environment.

The position requires strong attention to detail, precise documentation, and comfort with repetitive, detail-oriented work.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in biology, stem cell biology, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience maintaining human iPSC and/or ESC cultures.
• Industry experience strongly preferred.
• Strong sterile technique and excellent judgment around healthy vs. poor-quality stem cell cultures.
• Strong attention to detail, documentation, and record-keeping.
• Experience working to improve consistency and reduce batch-to-batch variability.
• Prior Hands-on flow cytometry experience.
• Comfortable with repetitive, detail-oriented work where consistency matters.
• Genuine passion for tissue culture and long-term career in this area.
• Positive attitude and strong team mindset.

Responsibilities

• Maintain human iPSC/ESC cultures: culture, passage, expand, freeze and thaw sensitive stem cell lines.
• Own culture quality: develop judgment around morphology, confluency, differentiation, recovery and overall culture health; identify problems early.
• Minimize culture stress: handle cells carefully and consistently; monitor small technique differences.
• Reduce variability: make workflows more consistent and reproducible across operators and batches.
• Support cell banks and QC: maintain cell banks and perform routine QC including mycoplasma and sterility testing, characterization, and sample prep for whole-genome sequencing.
• Perform directed differentiations: run routine differentiations with careful timing, handling and outcome tracking.
• Improve processes: stabilize protocols, define QC standards, contribute to process development for stem cell workflows.
• Document everything well: maintain culture records, track deviations and outcomes, ensure traceability of culture history.
• Prepare critical reagents: prepare media, small molecules and other culture reagents consistently and carefully.

Skills

iPSC culture

Stem cell culture

Flow cytometry

Sterile technique

Attention to detail

Documentation & record-keeping

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor/Master/PhD in biology or related field

Tools

Flow cytometer

Cell culture equipment

Job description

About Conception

Conception is pioneering the future of reproductive biology by generating functional human eggs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our mission is to unlock new possibilities for fertility, reproductive health, and genetic diversity. We are building a world-class team to make this vision a reality.

About Conception

Conception is pioneering the future of reproductive biology by generating functional human eggs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our mission is to unlock new possibilities for fertility, reproductive health, and genetic diversity. We are building a world-class team to make this vision a reality.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced stem cell scientist who genuinely enjoys maintaining and handling human pluripotent stem cells and wants to build a career doing this work extremely well.

This person should take real ownership of culture quality. You should have strong judgment around what healthy cultures look like, notice when something is starting to go wrong, and have a "do no harm" mindset around handling sensitive cells and minimizing unnecessary stress.

A big part of the job is also the discipline that comes with good cell culture: careful documentation, tracking culture history, maintaining cell banks, following QC closely, and working to reduce batch-to-batch variability as much as possible. We want someone who enjoys this part of the work too and takes pride in being meticulous.

This is a very hands-on role. We are specifically looking for someone who likes being at the hood, likes caring for cells, and wants to become exceptionally good at it.

Availability for the Sunday-Thursday schedule is critical to our workflows, and we offer a salary adjustment for this schedule.

What You’ll Do

• Maintain human iPSC/ESC cultures: Culture, passage, expand, freeze and thaw sensitive stem cell lines while maintaining consistently high culture quality.
• Own culture quality: Develop strong judgment around morphology, confluency, differentiation, recovery and overall culture health, and identify problems early.
• Minimize culture stress: Handle cells carefully and consistently, paying attention to small differences in technique that can affect quality and downstream performance.
• Reduce variability: Help make our stem cell workflows as consistent and reproducible as possible across operators and batches.
• Support cell banks and QC: Maintain cell banks and perform routine QC, including mycoplasma and sterility testing, characterization and sample preparation for whole-genome sequencing.
• Perform directed differentiations: Run routine differentiations with careful attention to timing, handling and outcome tracking.
• Improve processes: Help stabilize protocols, define QC standards and ultimately contribute to process development for our stem cell workflows.
• Document everything well: Maintain clear, accurate culture records, track deviations and outcomes, and help ensure that culture history is easy to understand and trace.
• Prepare critical reagents: Prepare media, small molecules and other cell culture reagents consistently and carefully.

Experience

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in biology, stem cell biology, or a related field
• Hands-on experience maintaining human iPSC and/or ESC cultures
• Industry experience strongly preferred
• Strong sterile technique and excellent judgment around healthy versus poor-quality stem cell cultures
• Strong attention to detail, documentation, and record-keeping
• Experience working to improve consistency and reduce batch-to-batch variability
• Prior Hands-on flow cytometry experience
• Comfortable with repetitive, detail-oriented work where consistency really matters
• Someone who genuinely enjoys tissue culture and wants this to be a meaningful part of their long-term career
• Positive attitude and strong team mindset

We are open to candidates across the Senior Research Associate / Associate Scientist range, including PhD-level candidates. Level and title will be based on relevant experience, technical depth, and demonstrated independence.

Why Join Us

• Impact: Be part of a high-reliability stem cell core that underpins our preclinical pipeline, with the potential to transform human reproduction
• Growth: Gain experience with cutting-edge stem cell culture methods and QC approaches
• Community: Work alongside passionate scientists tackling one of the most exciting frontiers in biology with a deeply aligned team
• Mission: Build the biological foundation for a new era of reproductive medicine, expanding what is possible for millions of people and families with limited options today