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.
Arc scaled to nearly 100 people in its first year. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly to several hundred in the coming years.
About the position
We are seeking an exceptional scientific leader and researcher to build and manage the Cellular Models Center, one of the foundational Technology Centers at the Arc Research Institute. The Center will be internally funded and staffed by professional research scientists, with the overall mission of developing cellular models of human disease. One of the initial goals will be to create 2D and 3D human cellular models to model Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders using stem cell-derived neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. The Center will also develop scalable strategies for creating complex, multi-cell type cultures and organoids that are compatible with cutting edge genetic screening approaches. Over time, the Center will expand to develop other models for immune-related conditions in addition to CNS disorders. Collaborations with Core Laboratories and other Centers at the institute will enable high-throughput interrogation of these models for target identification, investigation of human genetic variants using gene editing and functional genomics, and development of rational therapeutic strategies.
In this position, you will:
- Build and manage a fully funded Cellular Models Technology Center of ~10 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 cellular modeling that is actively deployed at the institute and distributed to the broader scientific community
- Serve as a subject matter expert in key areas of focus, such as developmental biology, stem cell biology, and neurobiology
- Engage in and manage internal and external research collaborations
- Present research findings at institute meetings and external scientific conferences
Job Requirements:
- PhD, DVM/PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in a relevant field and 10 – 15 years of relevant experience in industry and academic settings
- Previous managerial experience leading and growing scientific teams
- Advanced experience with human stem cell culture, iPSC derivation, and optimization of reproducible stem cell differentiation approaches
- Experience with 3D model approaches (e.g. organoid or assembled spheroids)
- Experience with modeling of diverse brain cell types (excitatory/inhibitory neurons, astrocytes and microglia)
- Experience with functional and genomic analysis of cellular model (e.g. bulk or single cell transcriptomic characterization, live cell imaging, or electrophysiology)
- 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 model characterization, and ability to interface with bioinformaticians in the Computational Biology Center.
Roles with discretionary bonuses:
The base salary range for this position is $162,000 to $262,500. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.
