Research Associate II/Engineer II, Lab Automation

Company Summary:

Tessera Therapeutics is an early-stage life sciences company pioneering Gene Writing, a new biotechnology designed to offer scientists and clinicians the ability to write small and large therapeutic messages into the genome, thereby curing diseases at their source. Gene Writing holds the potential to become a new category in genetic medicine, building upon recent breakthroughs in gene therapy and gene editing while eliminating important limitations in their reach, utilization, and efficacy. Tessera Therapeutics was founded by Flagship Pioneering, a life sciences innovation enterprise that conceives, resources, and develops first-in-category companies to transform human health and sustainability.

Position Summary:

The automation team at Tessera is growing and scaling to develop a first in class digital scientific organization through close collaborations with scientific, data engineering, computational biology, informatics, software, and IT teams.  We want automation hardware and software to be ubiquitous throughout Tessera to enable the discovery and development of next generation gene therapies using our proprietary platform. A key part of this initiative will be to hire a self-driven, talented, and enthusiastic Research Associate or Engineer to elevate our gene therapy process development, analytical and manufacturing capabilities through development and deployment of cutting-edge automation platforms and technologies.

This is a uniquely situated role between the physical automation, the science development and deployment of cell culture assays and the digital side of automation. Therefore, we encourage candidates with experience in any of these areas to apply, if you are excited to learn the other aspects of the role.

Key Responsibilities:

• Transition our scientific benchtop workflows to robust automated workflows by figuring out the ‘who, what, when, where, and why’ of our science.
• Develop custom scripts to make our current software better and improve the flow of our automation hardware.
• Partner with scientists to develop high throughput methods and experiments to be transferred to lab automation platforms.
• Support our scientists in the lab with troubleshooting and continued improvements on our automation platforms.
• Partner with data teams to integrate automation into our data and software backbone.
• Do what it takes to get our automation into the hands of the scientist.
• Identify and bring in the most impactful and cutting-edge automation technology.

Basic Qualifications:

• For Research Associate II: BS and 2+ years, or MS and 0-2 years
  • Hands on lab experience with at least one of the following: mammalian cell culture, cancer cell line culture/maintenance, molecular biology, sequencing, biologics/gene therapy/cell therapy process development, LNP process development.
• For Engineer II: BS and 2+ years, or MS and 0-2 years
  • Experience programming and developing with laboratory automation software/hardware and liquid handlers such as Hamilton Vantage/STAR line, Tecan Fluent/Evo, Beckman i5/i7, Agilent Bravo, HighRes, Biosero, etc.
• Experience with LIMS systems and ELN such as Benchling.
• Strong attention to detail and self-starter with the capability to work on multiple projects at the same time.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Preferred Qualifications (great to have, but not required):

• Programming experience in Python, C#, SQL, etc.

• Experience with scheduling software such as Cellario, Momentum, Green Button Go etc.

• Experience with 3^rd party automation hardware such as decappers, tube labellers, dispensers, sealers/peelers, etc.

• Experience with HTS assay development.
• Experience in more than one of the above automation/liquid handling platforms.

More About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering has conceived of and created companies such as Moderna Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRNA), Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), and Indigo Agriculture. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures. In 2021, Flagship Pioneering was ranked 12th globally on Fortune’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies:  Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates.  The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team.   Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.