Senior Research Associate, iPSC Differentiation and Genetic Screening

Arc Institute; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 87,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading institute in Palo Alto seeks a Senior Research Associate to bridge stem cell differentiation and molecular engineering. Successful candidates will leverage their expertise to optimize protocols and develop innovative cellular models for Alzheimer's disease research in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of relevant post-graduate experience or 2-3+ years with an MS degree.
• Strong experience with human pluripotent stem cell culture and differentiation.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into relevant cell types.
• Collaborate with teams to optimize genetic perturbations.
• Maintain compliance in documentation and data analysis.

Skills

Stem cell culture

Protocol optimization

Attention to detail

Data analysis

Collaboration

Education

BS/MS in Biology, Biotechnology, Genetics or Cellular Biology

Tools

LIMS systems

Flow cytometry

Molecular biology techniques

Job description

Senior Research Associate, iPSC Differentiation and Genetic Screening

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

• Funding: Arc will fully fund Core Investigators’ (PIs’) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
• Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
• Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
• Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc has scaled to nearly 200 people. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly in the coming years.

About the Position

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Research Associate with strong expertise in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) culture and differentiation to serve as a bridge between our Stem Cell Platform and the Molecular Engineering teams inside the Tech Centers. This position will focus on the reliable differentiation of defined cell types from stem cells, successful delivery and introduction of genetic perturbations, and execution of high-throughput screens in relevant brain models for our Alzheimer's disease initiative.

This role will involve close collaboration with scientists from different teams to optimize and perform the delivery of gRNAs to stem cell-derived populations, functional characterization of engineered cells, their integration into 3D brain models, and the harvesting and transferring of samples for downstream readouts such as sequencing.

The position requires an experienced stem cell culture specialist who excels at protocol optimization and execution, maintains meticulous attention to detail, and can effectively coordinate with multiple teams throughout the experimental workflow. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated and curious researcher interested in helping translate genomic insights into therapeutic strategies.

About you

• You love science and learning. Whether it’s gaining knowledge in new fields of scientific research or learning a new lab technique, you never stop being curious and routinely enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things.
• You are flexible and adaptable, eager to try new ways of tackling problems beyond the approaches with which you’re familiar while also bringing energy and curiosity to the optimization of existing approaches.
• You have a creative and curious spirit, open and eager to try new ways of tackling problems beyond the approaches with which you’re familiar.
• You can work fast and are detail-oriented. You are careful and diligent about good documentation practices and keeping things organized while moving at a rapid pace.
• You show initiative and can effectively work independently while also adapting well to situations where collaboration and communication with other RAs / Scientists will bring the best results.
• You are comfortable carrying out the routine execution of tasks while identifying opportunities to troubleshoot and improve bottlenecks.
• Your organizational skills enable you to manage multiple concurrent projects, and your curiosity and creativity drive you to continuous learning and innovation.

In this position, you will

• Stem Cell Expertise: Lead the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells (HPCs), microglia, and other CNS-relevant cell types using established and novel protocols. Maintain high-quality stem cell cultures and ensure consistent differentiation outcomes.
• Cross-Platform Collaboration: Act as a technical bridge between the Stem Cell Platform and Molecular Engineering Platform teams, ensuring efficient project coordination, knowledge and sample transfer. The person in this position will work closely with Molecular Engineering scientists to optimize and execute transduction protocols for efficient gRNA delivery into stem cell-derived populations.
• 3D Model Integration: Collaborate with the Stem Cell Platform team to incorporate genetically modified cells into 3D brain models for disease modeling and screening applications.
• Screen Execution Support: Participate in all aspects of perturbation screens execution, including experiment setup, sample collection, and coordination of sample transfer to other teams for downstream analyses such as sequencing.
• Functional Characterization: Leverage in vitro cell-based assays (flow cytometry, imaging, immunostaining, etc.) and molecular biology techniques to characterize the functional activity of genetically perturbed cells.
• Data Analysis & Documentation: Maintain careful records in ELN and organize materials and reagents with detailed tracking in our LIMS system.
• Protocol Optimization: Troubleshoot and identify opportunities to improve existing protocols and platform capabilities.
• Communication: Analyze and present data at internal meetings and seminars.

Requirements

• BS/MS or equivalent professional experience in Biology, Biotechnology, Genetics, Cellular Biology, or relevant fields.
• BS degree plus 4+ years of relevant, post-graduate experience or an MS degree plus 2-3+ years of relevant post-graduate experience.
• Extensive hands-on experience with human pluripotent stem cell culture, maintenance, and differentiation, particularly toward CNS lineages. Demonstrated ability to independently maintain stem cell lines and execute complex differentiation protocols.
• Experience with basic in vitro cell-based assays and molecular biology techniques (Flow cytometry, IHC/ICC, imaging).
• Experience with lentiviral transduction.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to multitask while working independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Ability to work some weekends as needed (days off can be swapped for weekdays).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with 3D culture systems, organoids, or co-culture models involving CNS cell types.
• Familiarity with CRISPR or other genome editing or genetic perturbation techniques, with hands-on experience functionally characterizing genetically modified cells.
• Proficiency and experience with virus production and cell line engineering.
• Experience with LIMS systems, ideally Benchling.
• Previous experience in collaborative, multi-disciplinary research environments.

The base salary range for this position is $87,500 to $107,500. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

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