Research Associate

Medra•San Francisco, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

As a Research Associate on our forward-deployed team, you will work across customer deployments to help them achieve their scientific objectives with Medra’s Physical AI. You will embed yourself at the customer, acting as a true partner on their team to ensure that the Medra platform is achieving scientific outcomes and driving value for the organization. You will apply the scientific method (hypothesis, design, experimentation, analysis) to test and validate the fidelity of our Physical AI Scientist platform for their workflows. You will be in close communication with our end users (scientists) and have your eyes and ears on the ground to help us get ahead of any issues, while taking insights and learnings from the customer back to the company to guide improvements to our product. Internally, you will partner closely with our forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) to drive a successful deployment. You will become a platform super-user who understands the strengths and limitations of our platform, and can apply creativity and scientific intuition to solve challenging problems. We're looking for someone who enjoys the scientific process, thrives on solving problems, and gets excited by working across multiple diverse scientific projects. The right candidate acts with urgency and thrives under pressure.

Requirements

B.S. or B.A. from a top university in Biological Sciences or a related field
3+ years of research experience, including hands-on wet-lab work
Experience in undergraduate research programs
Has published in scientific journals or presented at conferences
Excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively within a team
Innate curiosity about science and technology
This position is 100% in-person; you must be able to come on-site to our San Francisco office. We offer relocation benefits for applicants who need to relocate. Travel is required, up to 25–50%.

Responsibilities

Design & execute wet-lab experiments to validate Medra's autonomous Physical AI against scientific KPIs/metrics
Deploy on-site to our customer's labs — embed with their scientists to validate the science, conduct hands-on training on the robot & instruments, and provide ongoing support as they ramp up usage
Own the installation, QC, and troubleshooting/error-handling for all laboratory instruments on the Physical AI platform
Support internal R&D on new protocols and assays, and explore emerging technologies & techniques
Keep detailed experimental records and documentation (SOPs) for all workflows
Communicate results clearly, succinctly, and on-time