About Arc Institute
The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.
While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:
- Funding: Arc will fully fund Core Investigator’s (PI’s) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
- Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
- Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
- Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.
With $650M in committed funding, the vision in the first 2-3 years is to grow to a team of roughly 150 team members, with plans for further significant growth over the decade ahead.
About the position
We are seeking an exceptional scientific leader and researcher to build and manage the Genome Engineering Center, one of the foundational Technology Centers at the Arc Institute. The Center will be staffed by professional research scientists under industry-competitive payscales, with the goal of 1) advancing the capabilities of the genome perturbation toolbox for 2) high-throughput interrogation of the genome, transcriptome, and epigenome. Research activities at the Center will include the development and optimization of tools such as Cas9/Cas12/Cas13, new CRISPR systems, and non-CRISPR based approaches for genome or epigenome editing, transcriptional activation, programmable integration, high-throughput genetic screens, and beyond. The Genome Engineering Center will partner closely with Core Laboratories and other Centers at the institute on technology development, genetic screens, and biological/translational applications in complex in vitro and in vivo models.
In this position, you will:
- Build and manage a fully funded genome engineering Technology Center of 10-20 FTEs
- Actively mentor and provide guidance to research staff and develop them professionally and scientifically
- Partner with Principal Investigators and other Technology Centers to advance research across the institute and create a culture of collaboration and excellence
- Develop state of the art protocols, resources, and processes for advanced genome engineering that is actively circulated to the institute and broader scientific community
- Serve as a subject matter expert for cell line engineering, advanced genetic screening and novel genome editing technology development
- Engage in and manage internal and external research collaborations, present research findings
Job Requirements
- PhD, MD or MD/PhD in a relevant field and 12 – 15 years of relevant experience in industry and academic settings
- Previous managerial experience leading and growing scientific teams
- Deep background in genome perturbation technologies, high-throughput genetic screening, and molecular tool development
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills is required for research presentations, SOP development, and publications
- The successful candidate will be an ambitious self-starter, be motivated to apply his/her skills to diverse projects and enjoy working in a fast-paced team environment.
- Familiarity with computational requirements of modern functional genomics, and ability to interface with bioinformaticians in the Computational Biology Center