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 looking for a Senior Scientist to join our Genome Engineering Technology Center to discover, biochemically characterize and improve cutting-edge editing systems. You will work closely with researchers in Arc Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs to purify and characterize novel genome, transcriptome and episome editing enzymes. You will develop biochemical assays to characterize these enzymes, and use structural models to guide engineering efforts to understand and improve performance. You will also develop workflows leveraging lab automation to increase the throughput of protein expression, purification and biochemical characterization. This technology will play an important role in the Arc Institute’s mission to understand and treat complex genetic disease. The ideal candidate will have experience purifying enzymes, generating and working with protein structures. In addition, they will have experience developing novel biochemical assays to characterize enzyme activity. Experience with lab automation and liquid handling systems to increase experimental throughput is also desirable.

This is an excellent opportunity for a highly motivated and curious scientist interested in the intersection of basic research and biotech product development. Title and compensation will be competitive with industry jobs relative to experience level and background.

Job Responsibilities

  • Establish workflows for protein purification and work closely with research associates to execute on a regular basis ensuring output meets quality standards
  • Develop novel enzyme activity assays and provide biochemical characterization of genome editing systems
  • Determine and analyze protein structures by X-ray crystallography / cryo-EM in collaboration with external partner labs
  • Analyze experimental or computational structural models to guide protein engineering efforts
  • Provide technical leadership for projects aimed at developing genome engineering technology by collaborating with Center Directors on research plans and managing day to day lab activities
  • Report progress and present data in internal and external meetings 

Job requirements

  • PhD in biochemistry, structural biology, bioengineering or similar fields
  • 0-5 years’ post-doctoral experience in academia or biotechnology industry for Scientist and 5-8 years for Senior Scientist
  • Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership and drive technology development projects to completion
  • Track record performing biochemical characterization of complex enzyme systems including protein purification and biochemical assay development
  • Experience generating and analyzing protein structures through x-ray crystallography / cryo-EM or other structural biology techniques
  • Experience working with genome editing systems is desirable but not required
  • Ability to analyze large, complex data sets using tools such as Python and R
  • Ability and desire to work in a fast-paced environment and be a team player

The base salary range for this position is $112,500 to $148,500. 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, internal equity, market conditions, education/training, and skill level, 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.

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