Scientific Operations Associate

Merge Labs • San Francisco, CA

1d • $95,000 - $120,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Merge Labs is a frontier research lab focused on bridging biological and artificial intelligence to enhance human capabilities. The Lab Operations team provides the essential infrastructure and operational excellence to support R&D, covering scientific operations, equipment management, safety, facilities, procurement, and logistics. This role is crucial for enabling scientists and engineers by ensuring the laboratory functions seamlessly and accelerates research progress.

As the first Scientific Operations Associate, you will be responsible for the repeatable scientific operations that keep researchers unblocked. This hands-on role involves significant time in the lab (up to 90%) performing tasks such as cell line banking, mycoplasma testing, reagent preparation, protein purification, making glycerol stocks, and gel sample casting. You will collaborate with researchers, anticipate their needs, establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), conduct quality control, and continuously improve methods for efficiency and quality.

Requirements

• Hands-on wet-lab experience, including sterile technique, reagent preparation, cell culture, protein expression/purification, and multi-well plate workflows.
• A track record of executing repetitive, detail-critical work reliably and independently.
• Strong communication skills and a collaborative approach to working across scientific and operations teams.
• Strong organization skills and the ability to keep materials, schedules, and documentation clear and current.
• Curiosity about the science and awareness of project needs, so you can understand why the work matters and anticipate what researchers will need next.
• Experience writing or following SOPs in a research or regulated lab environment.
• Comfort operating in an early-stage environment where priorities shift and structure is still being built.
• Genuine interest in enabling cutting-edge research, even when your own day-to-day work is behind the scenes.

Responsibilities

• Perform and own routine cell biology tasks: mycoplasma testing for all cell lines, cell line banking and expansion (especially common lines like HEK cells), and cryovial inventory monitoring.
• Prepare lab stocks: dissolving, pH adjustment, filtering, and aliquoting media, buffers, and antibiotic stocks.
• Make purified proteins and glycerol stocks to support recurring scientific workflows.
• Pour agar plates with appropriate antibiotics and prepare competent cells with transformation efficiency QC.
• Fabricate lab-specific consumables that cannot be purchased (e.g., custom gel casting).
• Coordinate contamination response.
• Support general cloning workflows to reduce prep burden on scientists.
• Assist with LabOps duties as needed: bench/TC area resets, incubator maintenance, autoclave scheduling, and shelf stocking.
• Write and maintain SOPs for all recurring tasks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed