Senior Strain & Enzyme Engineering Scientist

Inscripta; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Manus in Waltham, MA is seeking a Research Associate (RA) or Senior Research Associate (SRA) to support strain engineering and analytics workflows. You will design and construct plasmids, generate chromosomally integrated E.

coli strains, culture and screen engineered strains, and process data from GC and LC to identify high‑performing variants. This hands‑on role requires collaboration across molecular biology, fermentation and downstream processing, plus documentation in LIMS and SOPs,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 0–4 years’ relevant experience (RA) or Bachelor’s with 4–7 years or Master’s with 2–4 years (SRA).
• Hands-on experience with plasmid design and cloning (e.g., Gibson assembly, Golden Gate, restriction/ligation).
• Experience culturing and screening engineered microbial strains in liquid and/or solid formats.

Responsibilities

• Design, construct, and validate plasmids for gene expression in microbial hosts.
• Generate chromosomally integrated E. coli strains (e.g., via recombineering or CRISPR-based methods).
• Culture and maintain engineered E. coli strains in solid and liquid formats at lab scale.
• Perform liquid‑liquid or solid‑phase extraction of fermentation broth and other matrices for analytics.
• Operate GC and/or LC instrumentation to generate quantitative data on strain performance.
• Process, QC, and interpret analytical and strain‑performance data; summarize findings to the project team.
• Ensure accurate data collection and upload to LIMS systems.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to improve experimental outcomes.
• Maintain instrumentation readiness and general lab organization.
• Author and update SOPs and experimental documentation.

Job description

Manus in Waltham, MA is seeking a Research Associate (RA) or Senior Research Associate (SRA) to support strain engineering and analytics workflows. You will design and construct plasmids, generate chromosomally integrated E.

coli strains, culture and screen engineered strains, and process data from GC and LC to identify high‑performing variants. This hands‑on role requires collaboration across molecular biology, fermentation and downstream processing, plus documentation in LIMS and SOPs,