Senior Scientist Single Cell Assay and Technology Development

Xaira Therapeutics • South San Francisco, CA

6d • $136,000 - $170,000

About The Position

As a Senior Scientist on Xaira Therapeutics’ High-throughput Biology team, you will invent and develop single-cell assays for AI-driven drug discovery. You will create new molecular readouts and extend commercial and published technologies to measure cellular state and responses at scale. You will own assay development from concept and feasibility through reproducible workflows for high-throughput data generation.

You will join a small, multidisciplinary technology development team and help shape its technical direction. Working with biologists, engineers, and computational scientists, you will rapidly design, prototype, and test new assays; help determine which ideas to pursue and technologies to adopt; and expand technology capabilities. The assays you build will generate data that power Xaira’s machine-learning models.

Requirements

• PhD in molecular biology, cell biology, bioengineering, biochemistry, immunology, or a related field, with 4+ years of relevant experience, including industry experience in assay or technology development.
• A track record of inventing or substantially improving single-cell, NGS, or cell-based assays.
• Curiosity and the ability to learn unfamiliar techniques quickly and apply them to new assay concepts.
• Expertise in molecular biology and NGS assay development, including nucleic acid handling, reverse transcription, enzymatic reactions, oligonucleotide design, and library preparation and quality control.
• Experience developing or adapting single-cell sequencing workflows, with strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills across biology, assay chemistry, instrumentation, and data.
• Strong mammalian cell biology skills, including cell culture and functional assay development.
• Strong analytical skills in experimental design and statistical analysis of NGS and single-cell data; proficiency in R or Python.
• Strong organizational skills and clear written and oral communication.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.

Nice To Haves

• Antibody engineering, expression, quality control, conjugation, or functional testing; immunology or primary immune cell assays.
• High-throughput or miniaturized assays, lab automation, or design of experiments.
• Pooled screening, genetic or chemical perturbation assays, or molecular reporter development with sequencing-based readouts.

Responsibilities

• Conceive, prototype, and develop novel single-cell assays, and expand commercial workflows to enable new molecular readouts and biological applications.
• Develop and troubleshoot assay components from sample preparation and barcoding through reverse transcription, amplification, targeted or whole-transcriptome NGS library preparation, and quality control; design custom primers, oligonucleotides, and barcodes.
• Build mammalian cell systems and functional assays using cell engineering, flow cytometry, imaging, and in situ hybridization.
• Partner with biology and engineering teams to turn prototypes into reproducible, scalable workflows and document protocols for transfer to internal teams.
• Evaluate emerging technologies.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits package, including base salary, bonus, and equity.
• Open, flexible, and friendly work environment intended to support employees’ long-term careers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree