Senior Scientist, In Vivo Functional Genomics - Technology Development

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution conducting 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 Investigators’ (PIs’) 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 a highly skilled and motivated Senior Scientist (or Scientist) with a strong background in technology development to join the In Vivo Functional Genomics team inside the Mammalian Models Technology Center at Arc Institute.

In this position you will play a critical role in achieving one of Arc’s overarching goals, the Virtual Cell initiative (VCI), which aims at making accurate predictions of cellular states and their response to interventions. As part of this initiative, we will generate large-scale in vivo functional genomics perturbation datasets to elucidate gene function and link genes to disease phenotypes. The VCI will integrate in vivo functional genomics approaches with predictive modeling to establish causal gene-phenotype connections that advance our understanding of human biology. This will require the development of new technologies that solve the current limitations of in vivo approaches:  i) effective and precise genetic and transcriptional perturbations directly in vivo and ii) comprehensive and scalable readouts of perturbed cellular states. The successful candidate will develop and advance technologies in these areas to enable large-scale in vivo perturbation datasets across diverse cell types, tissues and organs. 

In this context, you will have the opportunity to partner closely with pioneering labs that have developed the fundamental toolbox for functional genomics screens, including CRISPR nucleases, CRISPRi, CRISPRoff, CRISPRa, Cas13d, multiCas12a and serine and bridge recombinases.

About you

• You are passionate about science and love developing technologies for molecular engineering or multi-modal single-cell readouts that work exceptionally well in real-world biological applications.
• You are excited about answering questions related to cellular identities and cell-cell communication across the fields of immunology, neurobiology and complex human diseases.
• You have  strong molecular biology experience, as well as deep expertise in developing methods in either of these 2 areas:  genome engineering or single-cell / spatial multi-omics readouts.
• You are creative and are excited to try new ways of tackling problems beyond the technique/approaches you are familiar with. You enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things and develop new experimental approaches.
• You work fast while remaining detail-oriented. You are good at troubleshooting. You are careful and diligent about good documentation practices and keeping things organized while moving at a rapid pace.
• You love to collaborate and help others and are excited to work as part of a team. Science is a team effort, and you pride yourself in taking the initiative to help. 

In this position you will

• Develop new technologies to enable large scale in vivo functional genomics screening projects (with a priority of applications in the brain and in immune systems).
• Test and develop different genome engineering and perturbation modalities in vivo: CRISPR-KO, CRISPRi/a, ORF overexpression and recombinase/landing pad systems in close collaboration with other scientists at Arc.
• Test and develop single-cell and spatial readouts to study the effects of genetic perturbations in collaboration with the Multi-omics center at Arc.
• Train and mentor Research Associates and establish standardized protocols for the use by other groups at Arc.
• Collaborate closely with other Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs to advance our Virtual Cell Initiative and Alzheimer’s Disease Initiatives.
• Keep up-to-date on advances in the field by reading the literature and attending key conferences.
• Analyze data and present at meetings and seminars.
• The successful candidate will be an ambitious self-starter, be motivated to apply his/her skills to diverse projects and enjoy working in a collaborative and fast-paced team environment

Requirements

• PhD in biology, genetics, bioengineering or another relevant field.
• 4+ years of experience developing technology in either of these two areas:

• • Genome engineering & CRISPR
  • Single-cell or Spatial omics.

• Strong track record in developing innovative technologies with creative approaches
• In vivo experience and a desire to continue working primarily in vivo 
• Expertise in molecular biology in the context of omics profiling approaches, genome engineering or functional genomics
• Strong project management skills with the ability to plan, execute, and deliver results on time
• Extensive troubleshooting experience and strong problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to drive forward highly collaborative projects with a high degree of independence from your mentor / manager

Preferred Qualifications

Expertise in either of the following areas will be considered an additional asset for this role:

• High content Microscopy 
• Ability to analyze large and complex data sets using Python, R, or similar tools

The base salary range for this position is $114,875-$162,750. 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.