Associate Scientist, BioAnalytics

The Associate Scientist, BioAnalytics works within the BioAnalytical Team and will participate in providing bioanalytical support for genome-edited allogeneic CAR-T cell technical research and development projects. The position will take a lead role in the establishment of an extensive plate-, chip-, and cell-based bioanalytical platform to work in conjunction with flow cytometric analysis as part of deep product characterization and experimental clinical assessment of Precisions current and future cell therapy products. This position is primarily lab-based. This team member will be a part of our broader CMC organization which aims to drive technical excellence for the successful development of Precision Biosciences Cell and Gene Therapy Products, including allogeneic CAR-T cells, AAV viral vectors, and Lipid Nanoparticle-Encapsulated mRNA spanning a broad range of indications in immuno-oncology, infectious disease, and rare genetic disease.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. This list contains the major duties and requirements of the job and is not all-inclusive. Incumbent(s) may be expected to perform role-related duties other than those contained in this document.

• Provide leadership in the design, development, and execution of bioanalytical methods for deep product characterization of R&D, clinical, and manufacturing samples for cell therapy products, including:
  • Isolate primary immune cells from blood and cell culture
  • Cell based assay execution and analysis, including metabolic and cytokine analysis assays
  • Multiplexed analyte assay execution and analysis, such as MSD or Luminex
  • Assess signal transduction activation by Phosflow and/or Milo single-cell Western
  • Conduct single-cell secretomic analysis using the Isolight platform
• Develop and execute assays, analyze data, and report results to Cell Therapy Team leaders in a timely manner
• Identify and evaluate novel technologies and methodologies for the deep product characterization of Precisions Cell Therapies
• Coordinate with Cell Therapy Team members to plan and conduct experiments that need to be carried out in a timely manner to achieve Precisions Cell Therapy development goals
• Work collaboratively on aspects of experiments to be performed by other members of the team as part of larger ongoing experiments
• Coordinate with Group leaders to ensure the following:
  • SOPs are written and updated for techniques and assays
  • Equipment is properly maintained
  • Consumables, cells, and other reagents are ordered and available as needed
• Maintain an electronic lab notebook to document all experiments in a timely fashion
• Mentor and train research associates/assistants in the development and execution of relevant assays

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform this job successfully.

Required:

• Strong understanding with T cell biology
• Isolation and culturing of primary mammalian cells
• Experience with cell-based assays, such as effector:target cocultures, mixed lymphocyte reactions, metabolic profiling or cytokine analysis assays
• Experience with single-plex analyte analysis, such as ELISA
• Use of a statistical analysis software package, such as JMP
• Proven ability to independently define problems, set-up appropriate experiments, collect data, and draw valid conclusions
• Exceptional collaborative and communication skills

Preferred:

• Experience with primary T cells
• Experience with multiplexed analyte analysis, such as MSD or Luminex
• Profiling of signal transduction pathway activation by Phosflow, Milo, or Immunoblot assays
• Running and analyzing data from multiparametric flow cytometry
• Experience with Seahorse Analyzer metabolic assays
• Track record of implementing new technologies and/or development of novel assays
• Familiarity with analysis of large data sets, such as with transcriptomics and proteomics

Education/ Experience

• Successful candidate should have a PhD in immunology, cell & molecular biology, biochemistry or related field with 0-2 years of relevant experience or equivalent contributions
• This role is envisioned as an individual contributor role, however, in time may develop into a supervisory role with a small number of direct reports

Travel Requirements

• This position requires little to no travel.

Location

• This position is located at the main headquarters in Durham, NC, and is required to physically be and work in the office, in order to be most effective, and at managers discretion.

Precision BioSciences is dedicated to improving life through its proprietary genome editing platform, ARCUS. Precision BioSciences leverages ARCUS in the development of its product candidates which are designed to treat human diseases and create healthy and sustainable food and agriculture solutions. Precision BioSciences is actively developing product candidates in three innovative areas: allogeneic CAR T immunotherapy, in vivo gene correction, and food.

Precision BioSciences provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Precision BioSciences complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.