Scientist, Early Stage R&D (High Throughput Screening)

Helaina is a VC-backed biotech startup creating a new category of functional food products.

Our vision is to bring the functional properties of human proteins to food. Helaina will be the first company to put human milk proteins into food, defining a new category of consumer nutrition products focused on supporting immunity. We see a range of opportunities to use our breast milk proteins to enhance other types of functional foods for all segments of the population.

Helaina is backed by top VCs in the industry including Spark Capital, Siam Capital, Primary Venture Partners, and Plum Alley. We are a team of change-makers looking for our next team member who is intensely passionate about advancing synthetic biology for food and beverage products and redefining the future of nutrition.

About the Job:

In this role, you will work in our lab to provide support to the Assess and Learn unit of the Early Stage Research & Development team. The successful candidate will be a hands-on, motivated self-starter with a strong sense of initiative. You will be responsible for operating our high throughput screening platform along with leading assay and process development for continuous improvement. 

What You’ll Do:

• Operate Helaina’s state-of-the-art high throughput screening platform, including growing strains in deep-well plates, running various plate-based immunoassays, and analyzing large datasets.
• Lead assay method development of bioanalytical methods to better characterize our protein of interest, byproducts, and cells’ physiology. 
• Develop and implement immunological, spectrophotometry, and flow cytometry assays for strain characterization.
• Deploy and maintain quality control systems to ensure processes are in-spec.
• Troubleshoot process deviations through thorough root cause analysis and experimental design.
• Operate liquid handlers and other automation devices to propel screening throughput, reproducibility, and traceability.
• Organize and maintain lab operations, inventory, and equipment, working with external vendors and technical representatives as necessary.
• Keep careful records of experiments and communicate results in a timely and effective manner. Process data from experiments to draw insightful conclusions.  
• Work with other members of the Early Stage R&D team on experiments, data analysis, and assay development.

About You:

• You have a background in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, Molecular Biology, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology or related fields.
• You have a PhD, MSc with 2-5 years, or BSc with 5-7 years of bench experience performing protein analytics, immunoassay development, high-throughput screening, flow cytometry, and/or small-scale fermentation.
• You have experience in independently proposing, designing and running projects, mapping out the necessary experimentation and timelines, and providing updates to key stakeholders. 
• You are extremely proficient in statistical data analysis, mining historical data, and presenting results in a concise, clear manner.
• You have experience in Design of Experiments (DoE) and multivariate analysis.
• You are able to work independently as well as collaboratively in a team environment to deliver high-quality, consistent data in a timely manner.
• You have excellent oral and written communication skills with high attention to detail
• You bring an enthusiastic and curious attitude to work every day.
• You are energetic, creative, and personally motivated by the future of food and/or biological products.

Bonus Points if you have:

• Experience operating liquid handlers, preferably manufactured by Hamilton
• Quality control and control charting experience
• Experience working with JMP, Python, R, and/or Benchling
• Startup experience

Compensation is market-competitive with a yearly cash base of $90k - $115k plus equity.

We use a disciplined approach to compensation.  We believe this is the only way to create a consistent, strategic, and equitable compensation structure that in turn unlocks healthy growth for our organization.  We build our range with benchmarking data for the particular role from Pave.com.  Because Pave hooks into HRIS, they have the most accurate data for early-stage companies.  We decide any given hire's offer based on three factors:

first among them, expected performance in the role (based on performance in the interview process and proximity of experience);as well as seniority (amount of relevant experience);and location (different cost of living).

Benefits:

Helaina was founded on the belief that families should have freedom of choice.  We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace that does just that, supporting our team's health, wellbeing and professional development at every stage and milestone.  We are proud to offer comprehensive health care, generous parental leave and childcare reimbursement, equity packages and more.  A few highlights include:

• Full medical, vision and dental coverage
• Short and long term disability insurance coverage
• 401k match (up to 3%)
• Unlimited vacation days, including an all-company holiday between Christmas and New Year
• Paid Parental Leave for both parents + flexible return to work program
• Childcare reimbursement program
• Commuter Benefits
• Leadership Development coaching through BetterUp

Visit us at https://www.myhelaina.com/news to learn more about Helaina.

Helaina is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Helaina we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.  You may just be the strongest candidate for this or other roles.  For more information, please contact careers@myhelaina.com.