Research Associate - I

Research Associate - I

9 months contract

San Diego CA 92131

Position Summary

The Structural Biology and Protein Sciences group is seeking a highly motivated contractor to support recombinant protein production efforts, primarily utilizing insect cell expression systems. The successful candidate will be responsible for maintaining eukaryotic cell cultures, generating and managing high-titer baculovirus stocks, and performing multi-liter scale protein expression and harvest workflows. Additional responsibilities include executing plate-based expression and purification profiling to enable rapid screening of construct and condition variants. This role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to operate efficiently in a fast-paced research environment.

Key Responsibilities
Maintain healthy eukaryotic cell cultures, including insect (Sf9, Sf21, High Five) and/or mammalian expression lines.
Generate, amplify, and quality-control baculovirus stocks, including centralized storage and record management.
Execute multi-liter scale recombinant protein expression experiments, including infection, culture monitoring, and cell harvest.
Perform small-scale, plate-based expression and purification profiling to assess expression levels, solubility, and purification behavior.
Maintain accurate and timely records of experimental data, cell line usage, and virus stock inventories.
Operate and maintain basic laboratory instrumentation and contribute to general lab support activities as needed.
Collaborate closely with team members to optimize expression workflows and troubleshoot technical issues.

Minimum Qualifications
BS degree in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific discipline.
Minimum of 3 years of hands-on laboratory experience, including work with insect cell culture (e.g., Sf9, Sf21, Hi5) and/or mammalian cell culture systems.
Demonstrated experience in aseptic technique and routine maintenance of suspension cultures.

Highly Desirable Qualifications
Experience with the Client-to-C lient baculovirus expression system, including donor plasmid preparation, bacmid generation, and virus amplification.
Familiarity with plate-based expression and purification approaches (e.g., 2496 well plates and rapid IMAC and other affinity-based screens).
Experience conducting multi-liter expression campaigns and associated downstream sample handling.
Strong analytical, organizational, and documentation skills.
Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams.