Post Doctoral RA – Synthetic Biology and Biosensor Design

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • Richland, WA

5h • $69,000 - $119,100 • Onsite

About The Position

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.
Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.
The Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate (EBSD) leads critical research in four areas: Atmospheric, Climate & Earth Sciences, Biological Sciences, Environmental Molecular Sciences, and Global Change. Our vision is to develop a predictive understanding of biological and Earth systems in transition. We aim to understand energy and material flows within the integrated Earth system; to understand, predict, and control the response of biosystems to environmental and/or genomic changes; and to Model the Earth system from the subsurface to the atmosphere.
The Environmental Molecular Sciences Division is comprised of 18 interdisciplinary research teams focused on deciphering molecular-level interactions driving biological and environmental processes across temporal and spatial scales. Through computational analysis and modeling, these findings contribute to predictive understanding of how systems respond to environmental perturbations thus enabling solutions to the nation’s energy, environmental, and human health challenges. The division also manages the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus that accelerates the research of scientists around the world by providing access to world-class expertise, instrumentation, and computational resources.
The Functional and Systems Biology Group in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is seeking a motivated researcher with strong expertise in biosensors and high-throughput strain engineering to advance automated phenotyping and genome editing workflows. The overarching goal is to develop robust microbial, fungal, and algal platforms for biofuels and bioproducts through genetic and phenotypic optimization. A central focus of this position is the design, development, and application of biosensors—both in vivo and in vitro—to detect and quantify phenotypic signatures that enable rapid, data-driven strain improvement. Experience with cell-free systems for biosensor development, characterization, and application is highly desirable.
The successful candidate will lead efforts to develop, optimize, and validate genetically encoded and/or synthetic biosensors that report on cellular states, metabolic fluxes, and target molecule production in microbial, fungal, and algal systems. This work will span in-vivo deployment in living cells and organisms, in vitro application in cultured cells, organoid-like and microfluidic platforms, and cell-free expression or metabolic systems used to prototype and tune biosensors prior to deployment. The candidate will integrate biosensor readouts with automated cultivation and genome editing tools to enable high-throughput screening, closed-loop strain engineering, and rapid mapping of genotype–phenotype relationships.
Other key responsibilities include designing, developing, and implementing high-throughput automated workflows for the EMSL User Program. These workflows will integrate biosensor-based phenotyping with high-resolution, single-cell analyses and multi-modal techniques (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) to uncover genetic drivers of phenotypic traits, elucidate protein function, and guide iterative strain improvement.
The candidate will work within a multi-researcher, interdisciplinary team to engineer strains with enhanced traits using genome editing and synthetic biology tools, informed by biosensor and multi-omics data. They will refine biosensor designs and phenotyping strategies across cell-free, in vitro, and in vivo contexts; integrate experimental datasets using bioinformatics and molecular tools; and contribute to scientific publications, user-facing protocols, and technical reports that highlight new biosensor technologies and their applications. Collaboration with interdisciplinary and multi-institutional teams, including EMSL users who will leverage these biosensor-enabled platforms, will be essential to achieving research goals. The candidate will ensure adherence to laboratory safety and compliance standards. This role offers a dynamic opportunity to innovate in biosensor development and deployment, advance high-throughput phenotyping, and contribute to sustainable solutions for the bioeconomy.
ONSITE ONLY Position is ONSITE work only in Richland, WA.

Requirements

• Candidates must have received a PhD within the past five years (60 months) or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.
• Ph.D. in microbiology, bioengineering, microbial genetics, chemical engineering, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in strain development, lab automation, and genetic engineering.
• The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in microbiology, synthetic biology, bioengineering, or a related field, with demonstrated expertise in biosensor design, development, and application in vivo and in vitro.

Nice To Haves

• Experience developing and deploying genetically encoded or synthetic biosensors in microbial, fungal, and/or algal systems, as well as using cell-free expression or metabolic platforms to prototype and optimize biosensors, is highly desirable.
• Candidates should also have a strong background in strain engineering and genome editing tools (e.g., CRISPR/Cas, CRISPRa/i), and in integrating biosensor readouts with high-throughput phenotyping workflows and automated cultivation systems.
• Proficiency in applying multi-modal phenotyping techniques (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, single-cell methods) to link genetic drivers to phenotypic traits, and in using bioinformatics tools to analyze and integrate these datasets, is preferred.
• A strong record of peer-reviewed publications, successful collaboration within interdisciplinary and multi-institutional teams, and experience supporting user or collaborative research programs are all advantageous.
• The successful candidate will interact with other staff and participate in team-based, collaborative research within PNNL and with external organizations. Therefore, strong written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills are essential for independently carrying out initial analysis of experimental data and presenting summaries to project managers and staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead efforts to develop, optimize, and validate genetically encoded and/or synthetic biosensors that report on cellular states, metabolic fluxes, and target molecule production in microbial, fungal, and algal systems.
• Integrate biosensor readouts with automated cultivation and genome editing tools to enable high-throughput screening, closed-loop strain engineering, and rapid mapping of genotype–phenotype relationships.
• Design, develop, and implement high-throughput automated workflows for the EMSL User Program.
• Work within a multi-researcher, interdisciplinary team to engineer strains with enhanced traits using genome editing and synthetic biology tools, informed by biosensor and multi-omics data.
• Refine biosensor designs and phenotyping strategies across cell-free, in vitro, and in vivo contexts
• Integrate experimental datasets using bioinformatics and molecular tools
• Contribute to scientific publications, user-facing protocols, and technical reports that highlight new biosensor technologies and their applications.
• Ensure adherence to laboratory safety and compliance standards.

Benefits

• Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support.
• Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match.
• Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees