Sr. Intestinal Tissue Engineer

The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory•Cambridge, MA

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 2,000+ employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross-fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation. The Bioengineer (SMTS) is focused on developing and deploying multidisciplinary solutions at the convergence of biology and engineering to address critical needs in national security and healthcare while fostering a thriving culture and developing the next generation of innovators. The Bioengineer will apply their foundational knowledge and experience to a broad range of interdisciplinary efforts. Our culture fosters innovation, a supportive team environment, intellectual freedom and creativity, and an emphasis on career development. Duties are performed with limited supervision.

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.
A minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Cell Biology, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics or related fields is required.
Requires 5+ years of Bioengineering or related engineering experience.

Nice To Haves

PhD is preferred.
PhD in biology or engineering discipline with ≤ 3 years of post-doctoral or industry R&D experience, or MS in biology or engineering discipline with ≥ 5 industry R&D experience.
Proven Intestine-specific expertise : Demonstrated ability to isolate, propagate and assay human intestinal stem cells as organoids and monolayer tissues.
Human immune cell culture expertise : Demonstrated knowledge and ability to isolate and differentiate human immune cells.
Advanced in‑vitro system fluency : Proven experience with microfluidic‑based cell and tissue culture platforms (e.g., microphysiological systes (MPS), organ‑on‑chi.
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 with bio-informatic pipelines for high-content image and omics integration (e.g. R/Python); familiarity with lab-automation for routine laboratory workflows.
Strong communication skills: Ability to convey complex 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.
Develop, optimize, and characterize intestine microphysiological (MPS) and organ-on-chip models for toxicity, permeability, 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 (microphysiological system or organs-on-chip) in a BSL-2 laboratory.
Culture, maintain, and manipulate human primary cells and tissues – specifically propagating human intestinal organoids and isolating and differentiating human monocytes.
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.