Senior Scientist I, Microfluidics

Ampersand Biomedicines•Boston, MA

9d•$126,000 - $159,500

About The Position

Ampersand Biomedicines is seeking a Senior Scientist I to help build and apply cell-based, high-throughput capabilities for engineered antibody and protein variant library screening. This scientist will play a central role in developing library cell systems and biological assays that enable the discovery of enhanced, engineered antibody and protein variants, while contributing to the continued evolution of Ampersand's high-throughput screening platform. This role sits at the interface of molecular biology, cell biology, assay development, and microfluidic screening. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with molecular biologists on vector design, cell-based assay development, and library generation strategies before partnering with microfluidics engineers to integrate novel assays into robust high-throughput screening workflows. The ideal candidate is a hands-on experimentalist who enjoys leading the development of new biological systems, solving challenging assay-development problems, and working across disciplines to build innovative platform technologies.

Requirements

PhD in Cell Biology, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, Biophysics, or a related field; or MS with substantial relevant industry experience.
Strong hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, cell handling, transfection workflows, cell selection, and cell-based assay execution.
Demonstrated experience leading the development and optimization of biological assays, preferably protein-based, cell-based or high-throughput screening assays.
Working knowledge of antibody biology, recombinant protein engineering, or antibody discovery workflows.
Ability to design experiments, troubleshoot complex biological systems, interpret quantitative data, and make clear recommendations based on results.
Experience with fluorescence-based detection platforms such as flow cytometry, FACS, microscopy, plate readers, or related systems.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with experience interpreting complex biological datasets.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across biology, molecular biology, engineering, and platform teams.
Enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced, early-stage biotech environment, including regular collaboration with colleagues across US and European time zones.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing engineered mammalian cell pools, stable cell lines, reporter cell lines, or functional cell-based screening systems.
Experience with antibody engineering, antibody discovery, directed evolution, display technologies, recombinant protein library screening, or pooled cell-library workflows.
Experience developing functional or cell-based assays for monoclonal antibody discovery is desirable.
Exposure to cell-free protein synthesis or related in-vitro expression systems.
Exposure to droplet microfluidics, single-cell screening, microfluidic sorting, or other high-throughput screening platforms.
Familiarity with next generation sequencing-enabled antibody screening workflows.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with molecular biology scientists to define vector designs, expression formats, transfection strategies, cell selection approaches, and assay-readiness criteria.
Establish workflows for transfecting, expanding, selecting, and qualifying library cell populations for downstream screening.
Lead the development and optimization of biochemical and cell-based droplet-compatible assays for high-throughput screening of engineered protein libraries.
Develop and implement pathway-responsive reporter-cell assays to enable functional screening of engineered molecules and expand the capabilities of the screening platform.
Optimize assay performance by systematically evaluating biological and technical parameters to maximize robustness, sensitivity, reproducibility, and scalability.
Partner with microfluidics engineers to integrate biological assays into high-throughput microfluidic screening workflows.
Analyze and interpret experimental data to guide assay optimization, platform development, and scientific decision-making.
Troubleshoot biological and technical challenges, optimize established workflows, and identify opportunities to improve platform performance.
Document experimental workflows, communicate findings to cross-functional teams, and contribute to SOP development and continuous platform improvement.