Scientist III Synthetic Biology and DNA Assembly

Allen Institute • Seattle, WA

152d • $126,150 - $157,700 • Remote

About The Position

The mission of the Allen Institute is to unlock the complexities of bioscience and advance our knowledge to improve human health. Using an open science, multi-scale, team-oriented approach, the Allen Institute focuses on accelerating foundational research, developing standards and models, and cultivating new ideas to make a broad, transformational impact on science. Join the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub), an initiative at the intersection of academic creativity and start-up style execution. Our mission is to reimagine living cells and genomes as devices for recording biology and diagnostic information over time, as well as for encoding real-time therapeutic decision-making. Take off with us as we imagine — and create — a kind of cellular flight recorder that can also seize the controls. Be part of a small dynamic team with world-class scientists. SeaHub is looking for a Scientist III to lead our “Build” team. The “Build” team is part of a larger effort that includes teams focused on expanding our abilities to engineer cells and genomes to autonomously “Sense,” “Write,” “Read,” and “Act” at a molecular level. The successful candidate will have a strong background in synthetic biology or genomics and will oversee our efforts to assemble plasmids, DNA libraries, and large synthetic DNAs to enable biological recording. They will interact with their team and with other team leads and group leaders to develop project ideas and creatively innovate to apply new technologies for DNA synthesis and genome engineering. This position requires a collaborative mindset and the ability to work cross-functionally with other research teams to drive project success.

Requirements

• PhD degree in molecular biology, genetics or related field; or equivalent combination of degree and experience
• Minimum 5 years of relevant post-doctoral experience
• Experience supervising projects and people

Nice To Haves

• 5 - 8 years relevant post-doctoral experience
• Familiarity with functional genomics, massively parallel reporter assays, plasmid library construction, library-based screening, or related methods, especially in mammalian cells
• Experience performing molecular biology methods including as many as possible of: library cloning, yeast-assembly of DNA, Golden Gate assembly, Gibson assembly, CRISPR/Cas9-editing, mammalian cell culture, stem cell culture, and NGS library prep
• Expertise in pooled or multiplexed assays, especially in mammalian cells
• Ability to work independently and meet aggressive timelines and deliverables in a collaborative environment
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Familiarity with NGS data analysis

Responsibilities

• Lead in the development or implementation of new technologies to improve the state-of-the-art in DNA synthesis and assembly
• Oversee and assist in the assembly of 1000s of synthetic DNA constructs from the 1kb to 100+ kb scale with methods including Golden Gate assembly, yeast-assembly, and Gibson assembly
• Interface with other platform teams, contributing to design of experiments and synthetic DNA constructs
• Oversee and assist in the construction of libraries for high-throughput screening
• Oversee and assist in analysis of next generation sequencing data to verify synthetic DNA constructs
• Manage laboratory automation for DNA synthesis and assembly
• Establish protocols to engineer mammalian cells with synthetic DNA constructs in vitro
• Train, mentor and motivate others to perform the above functions
• Present scientific results and complex concepts internally in talks and progress reports
• Present results to the external community at conferences and in publications

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Basic life insurance
• 401k plan
• Paid time off

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Ambulatory Health Care Services
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree