Imaging Specialist

We are Arcadia Science, an evolutionary biology company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to turn natural innovations into real-world solutions by developing systematic and quantitative approaches to leveraging biology for therapeutics R&D. We share our research as openly as possible to accelerate discovery and make our work broadly useful.

The Opportunity 

We are seeking an Imaging Specialist to operate our microscopy core and serve as the technical anchor for imaging across Arcadia. Microscopy at Arcadia is a platform capability, not a service desk. The core is built to enable high-content imaging of diverse organisms — from 2 to 250 µm, on timescales from milliseconds to hours — using both label-free and reporter-based approaches.

Our current footprint includes an inverted Nikon Ti2-E spinning disk confocal with Yokogawa CSU-W1 SoRa for high-resolution, low-phototoxicity imaging; an upright Nikon widefield system with a Kinetix sCMOS camera for fast cellular and sub-cellular dynamics (~500 fps full chip, faster in ROI), and a Leica Stellaris 8 for coherent Raman scattering (CRS) and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), for label-free molecular fingerprinting.

The Imaging Specialist owns the operational reliability and scientific utility of this infrastructure. They train users, consult on experimental design from sample prep through analysis, run acquisitions for collaborators, build automated workflows, and contribute to publications that share our protocols with the broader community. They also act as a liaison to external vendors to coordinate advanced trainings, troubleshoot issues, identify gaps in current workflows and demo new tools to fill them. This role reports to the Core Technologies Lead. The ideal candidate is a hands-on imaging scientist who can keep complex instruments running, design experiments alongside scientists across the organization, and turn one-off solutions into reusable infrastructure. This is an individual contributor role.

What You'll Do

• Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot all microscopy and spectroscopy instruments in the core; manage scheduling, service contracts, and vendor relationships

• Consult with scientists across the company on imaging experiments — sample preparation, image acquisition, image processing, and analysis — and identify which tools and workflows fit the scientific question

• Provide training and ongoing technical support on confocal, widefield, super-resolution, FLIM, Raman, and CARS systems

• Run acquisitions on behalf of collaborators when the science calls for it, and hand off cleanly when it doesn't; perform sample prep where needed

• Build, document, and maintain automated acquisition workflows that scale from one-off experiments to high-content datasets across diverse organisms

• Develop and refine image processing and analysis pipelines (FIJI, CellProfiler, Python-based) to keep pace with the data we generate

• Maintain SOPs, training documentation, and the microscope issue tracker so the core stays reproducible and easy to onboard into

• Identify gaps in our imaging capabilities and propose, scope, and execute on capability expansions

• Co-author open pubs on imaging methods, protocols, and datasets; share workflows externally via protocols.io and our repos so others can adopt them quickly

• Partner with the Core Technologies and Validation teams to integrate imaging with automation, data infrastructure, and downstream analysis

Required Qualifications

• PhD in cell biology, biophysics, bioengineering, or a related field, with at least 3 years of hands-on experience running or supporting an imaging core, advanced microscopy lab, or equivalent

• Deep technical fluency with confocal, widefield, and super-resolution microscopy; familiarity with FLIM, Raman, or CRS is a strong plus

• Demonstrated ability to maintain and troubleshoot complex optical systems, including light paths, lasers, cameras, and stage automation

• Direct experience designing imaging experiments on live samples across multiple organisms or cell types

• Programming experience (Python required; familiarity with bash, version control, and macro/script-level automation in FIJI or NIS-Elements)

• Track record of building reproducible workflows — SOPs, automated acquisition routines, analysis pipelines — that other scientists actually use

• Strong written and verbal communication; you can write up a protocol or a pub clearly and quickly

• Commitment to open science. We publish protocols, code, and data openly and expect you to participate

• Comfortable working across cell biology, microbiology, and non-model organism systems

• Thrives in a fast-paced, on-site environment with shifting scientific priorities and a high volume of collaborator requests

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with high-content screening, label-free imaging modalities, or quantitative phenotyping at scale

• Hands-on with microfabrication for imaging (e.g., microchambers, PDMS molding) or other sample prep innovation

• Background in image analysis with deep learning approaches (Cellpose, StarDist, custom models)

• Experience standing up a core from scratch or leading a major capability expansion as an individual contributor

Compensation

Successful applicants can expect to be compensated between $140,000–$190,000 with benefits and a competitive equity offering, depending on experience level. The position will require the individual to be on-site at our Emeryville, California headquarters.