Senior Research Associate, Cell Biology & Assay Development

Deep Origin•South San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Deep Origin is building drug discovery capabilities by combining AI and physics-based methods with wet-lab biology. The Senior Research Associate will build and run cell-based assays and engineered cell lines supporting drug discovery programs, working day to day with a senior scientist in R&D. The role owns hands-on bench execution while contributing to assay strategy. Core work includes maintaining mammalian cell lines, engineering them with RNP-based CRISPR for knockouts and knock-ins, generating validated stable lines, and developing robust functional assays. Generated data feeds into AI- and physics-based compound design, making data quality and reproducibility important alongside throughput. This is a primarily onsite, laboratory-based position in South San Francisco. The role involves regular use of standard laboratory equipment and PPE; working with biological samples and research reagents; prolonged standing or sitting; repetitive hand motions; and moving laboratory supplies weighing up to approximately 25 pounds, with reasonable accommodation as needed. Occasional work outside standard business hours may be required for time-sensitive experiments. Travel is minimal. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. Deep Origin is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master's degree in biology, cell biology, bioengineering, biochemistry, immunology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Relevant hands-on laboratory experience.
Demonstrated mammalian cell culture experience and strong aseptic technique, including routine maintenance of multiple lines in parallel.
Hands-on CRISPR gene-editing experience, including knockout generation and ideally knock-in, with validation of edited clones.
Experience with transient transfection and generating and validating stable cell lines, including clonal selection and banking.
Experience executing at least one cell-based assay readout, such as flow cytometry, plate-based viability, reporter, or proliferation assays.
Ability to analyze data, assess assay quality, communicate findings clearly, and work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary setting.
Commitment to laboratory safety, research integrity, accurate documentation, and responsible handling of biological materials.
Authorization to work for any employer in the U.S.; employment visa sponsorship or takeover of sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on RNP-based CRISPR knockout and knock-in using Lonza Nucleofector platforms (4D-Nucleofector or equivalent), including program and buffer selection for the target cell type.
Experience with high-throughput or automated assay platforms, including 96- or 384-channel electronic pipetting systems, benchtop pipetting robots (INTEGRA VIAFLO, MINI 96, VOYAGER, ASSIST PLUS or comparable), and multimode plate readers.
Experience developing or optimizing BRET, TR-FRET/HTRF, or related proximity-based assay formats.
Molecular biology bench skills, such as construct and primer design, cloning, qPCR or digital PCR, and Western blot.
Drug discovery experience in biotech or pharma, including work on a target-to-lead or lead-optimization program.
Familiarity with assay qualification concepts, including design of experiments, dose-response analysis, curve fitting, acceptance criteria, and statistical assessment of assay variability.
Experience with neuronal or other CNS-relevant cell models.
Experience with multiplexed editing, including triple knockouts or combined knockout and knock-in lines.

Responsibilities

Culture, expand, and maintain mammalian cell lines using strict aseptic technique, monitoring health, viability, density, and passage history.
Maintain cryopreserved stocks, conduct mycoplasma and identity checks, and keep accurate lineage records.
Optimize RNP-based CRISPR/Cas editing in mammalian cell lines for single and double knockouts.
Design and execute targeted knock-in strategies, including donor design, delivery optimization, and editing-efficiency assessment.
Genotype and validate edits using sequencing, qPCR or digital PCR, and protein-level readouts.
Perform transient transfections to test constructs, optimizing reagent, nucleic acid amount, and harvest timing, and confirming expression before stable-line generation.
Generate stable cell lines using viral and non-viral delivery; perform clonal selection, expansion, functional validation, and banking.
Characterize clones for expression level, assay performance, and stability over passage.
Develop, optimize, and run functional assays, including plate-based, reporter, proximity-based, flow cytometry, and other cellular functional readouts.
Optimize assay seeding density, stimulation conditions, dose range, incubation time, controls, and acceptance criteria to improve sensitivity, dynamic range, and reproducibility.
Prepare test articles, reagents, controls, and assay plates according to established protocols and study plans.
Analyze dose-response data, fit curves, assess assay quality using measures such as Z', signal window, and variability, and flag trends, outliers, and deviations.
Keep complete, timely electronic lab notebook records consistent with data-integrity expectations.
Present results at team meetings and contribute figures and data to technical reports.
Troubleshoot routine assay and culture problems, escalate significant deviations, and work with colleagues to improve method robustness and transferability.
Support reagent preparation, inventory, equipment upkeep, sample tracking, and safety compliance.
Manage assigned work to agreed timelines.