Senior Liver Tissue Engineer

Draper•Cambridge, MA

1d•$82,300 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Bioengineering Division is seeking a Senior Liver Tissue Engineer to support the research and development of cutting-edge technologies. At Draper Bioengineering, we work at the interface between engineering and biology, and the successful applicant will join teams working on Micro-physiological systems (organ-on-chip) and other novel systems which blend complex biology with custom hardware and software. The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, observant, collaborative, and dedicated, and will serve as a subject matter expert, applying their foundational immunology knowledge and experience to exciting, interdisciplinary efforts. Draper offers a distinctive environment that blends the best aspects of academia, government, and industry. Our supportive team atmosphere fosters innovation, intellectual creativity, and an emphasis on career development. The available position offers the potential for career growth and opportunities to take on more responsibility over time.

Requirements

Strong foundation in biology and/or engineering principles.
Team player, dedicated, collaborative, observant, and motivated.
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and verbal and written communication skills.
Creative problem-solving skills and a passion for innovation.
Excellent time management skills with the proven ability to meet deadlines and prioritize tasks.
Enthusiasm for learning and participating in mentorship/mentoring.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Applications.
Requires 5+ years of Bioengineering or related engineering experience.
Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Proven Liver-specific expertise: Demonstrated ability to develop and implement advanced in vitro human‑derived liver MPS models (microfluidic devices, perfused bioreactors, 3D organoids) that meet quantitative functional endpoints (albumin, urea, CYP activity, etc.).
Complex hepatic co-culture expertise: Experience integrating non‑parenchymal cells (Kupffer, stellate, sinusoidal endothelial) into hepatocyte-based model to recapitulate complex inflammatory and disease phenotypes; experience with organoid, primary and/or iPSC cultures.
Advanced in‑vitro system fluency: Proven experience with microfluidic‑based cell and tissue culture platforms (e.g., micro-physiological systems (MPS), organ‑on‑chip).
Broad technical breadth: Some experience with microbiology (viruses, bacteria, toxins), immunology, synthetic biology, genetic engineering, bioinformatics/data analytics, and/or in silico modeling; some experience applying AI/ML-driven cell painting to automate high‑content imaging, extract deep‑learning phenotypes, and integrate quantitative readouts into downstream analyses; some experience with bio-informatic pipelines for high-content image and omics integration (e.g. R/Python); some exposure to in silico PK/PD modeling to link MPS data to in vivo predictions; familiarity with lab-automation for routine laboratory workflows.
Strong communication skills: Ability to convey complex liver‑biology concepts to engineers, data scientists, and senior management; experienced in multi‑disciplinary teamwork.
Proposal development: Experience writing innovative R&D proposals for government sponsors (contracts, grants) and secure external funding.
Professional skills: Demonstrated ability to work independently while thriving in a collaborative environment; demonstrated flexibility to multi-task, adapt to shifting priorities and thrive in a fast-moving, collaborative environment; prior involvement in industry-academic consortia, clinical collaborations, and/or successful track-record of securing external funding; experience generating high-impact liver-focused scientific manuscripts or patent(s).

Responsibilities

Drive solutions to complex problems with limited direction.
Contribute to the development of innovative bioengineering solutions, propose ways forward, and adapt appropriately to changes in requirements.
Able to provide insight and suggest design modifications based on analysis outcomes.
Actively mentor less experienced bioengineers and provide thoughtful, constructive feedback.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Develop, optimize, and characterize liver‑specific micro-physiological (MPS) and organ-on-chip models for toxicity, metabolism, and disease‑state studies.
Apply cell biology, developmental biology, and tissue engineering fundamentals to establish cell and tissue-based assays within Draper’s in vitro tissue culture systems under a variety of use-case scenarios.
Plan, conduct, and lead technical experiments with Draper’s advanced in vitro tissue culture technologies (micro-physiological system or organs-on-chip) in a BSL-2 laboratory.
Culture, maintain, and manipulate human primary cells and tissues – including primary liver-cell isolates, iPSC-derived hepatocytes, and non-parenchymal liver cells (Kupffer, stellate, sinusoidal endothelial cells) – in both standard in vitro formats and within Draper’s MPS platforms.
Perform a broad suite of molecular, biochemical, and cellular assays (e.g. immunostaining, ELISA, Luminex, flow cytometry, DNA and RNA extraction, qPCR, multi-omics) and biostatical data analysis.
Acquire brightfield, fluorescent and high-content confocal microscopy data; process and analyze image sets within automated pipelines to extract quantitative biological insights.
Create, version control, and maintain SOPs and analytical methods that are fully compatible within Draper’s platform technologies.
Collect, interpret, and summarize data; deliver clear and concise presentations to project leads, internal management, external sponsors/customers, and for peer‑reviewed publication.
Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to execute project plans; mentor and train bench‑level colleagues and foster a collaborative, safety‑first lab culture.
Troubleshoot experimental challenges in partnership with teammates and project leadership; drive rapid, data-backed decisions to keep projects on schedule.
Complete all required training, adhere to institutional, governmental, and safety regulations, and champion an environment of compliance.
Contribute to business‑development activities – technical ideation, proposal writing, and customer outreach – to expand Draper’s tissue engineering portfolio.
Support day‑to‑day lab organization (reagent sourcing, material preparation, equipment upkeep) to keep the MPS workflow running smoothly.
Work in face-paced, milestone-driven interdisciplinary environment where multi-tasking is essential.