Scientist, Delivery Screening Technology, Horns Lab

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

• Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets, accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
• Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Scientist to join the Horns laboratory at the Arc Institute. In this position, you will lead the development of pooled screening technology for measuring and engineering how biological nanoparticles deliver molecular cargo into cells. You will play a critical role in building, validating, and scaling these platforms, and in applying them to discover and engineer next-generation delivery vehicles, such as virus-like particles and vesicles. Your work will directly impact our understanding of how cells interact with nanoparticles and the development of therapeutic delivery systems.

The successful candidate will discover, design, and engineer delivery vehicles. This work will initially focus on establishing quantitative molecular readouts of cargo delivery and executing pooled screens in cultured mammalian cells, then scaling to large multiplexed libraries. In the longer term, these approaches will be used to reveal principles governing cellular delivery and to enable efficient, precise, targeted delivery to specific cell types.

The candidate will collaborate with other members of Arc’s labs and Technology Centers in a dynamic environment to drive scientific discoveries, including partnering with groups within Arc Institute who are leaders in RNA biology and RNA medicine, single-cell genomics, genome engineering, and AI/ML. The ideal candidate would have a passion for cutting-edge technology development and a proven track record of working in an interdisciplinary environment and turning concepts into reliable methods and results. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious self-starter who is motivated to apply their skills to diverse projects and enjoys working in a collaborative, fast-paced team environment.

About you

• You are passionate about science and about tackling challenging problems in synthetic biology, cell biology, and drug delivery.
• You are excited to build new platforms and molecular technologies that make complex biology measurable.
• You are creative and eager to explore new approaches beyond the techniques you are familiar with. You enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things and develop new experimental approaches.
• You work fast, yet are diligent and detail-oriented. You are good at troubleshooting. You are careful about good documentation practices and keeping things organized while moving at a rapid pace.
• You excel at organization, time management, and task prioritization, and enjoy driving multiple projects in parallel.
• You love to collaborate and help others. Science is a team effort, and you pride yourself in taking the initiative to help.

In this position you will

• Design, build, and validate molecular reporters that measure how efficiently delivery vehicles enter cells and release cargo.
• Design and construct pooled libraries of engineered delivery vehicles and cellular components, and execute screens with sequencing-based readouts.
• Scale the platform from proof-of-concept to large multiplexed screens, and apply it to discover and engineer improved delivery vehicles.
• Design and execute validation experiments, including orthogonal assays and characterization of individual hits.
• Analyze sequencing data computationally, including developing analysis pipelines.
• Collaborate with lab members developing complementary screening platforms.
• Embrace the opportunity to creatively collaborate with Technology Centers and other laboratories.
• Maintain accurate and detailed records of experimental protocols, results, and conclusions.
• Present key research findings at internal meetings and seminars, and external conferences.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to Research Associates.
• Stay updated on advancements in the field of functional genomics, synthetic biology, and drug delivery by reading the literature and attending conferences.

Requirements

• PhD in cell or molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, bioengineering, or a related field with 0-5 years of relevant post-PhD experience in academia and/or industry.
• Deep hands-on experience in pooled screening with end-to-end ownership, including library design and construction, screen execution, NGS readout, and hit calling and analysis.
• Demonstrated track record of developing and validating novel quantitative molecular assays from scratch, with strong troubleshooting skills.
• Fluency with mammalian cell culture and cell engineering, including construct design, cloning, and characterization of genetically modified cells.
• Proficiency with flow cytometry, including selection for pooled screens.
• Ability to analyze large and complex data sets using Python, R, or similar tools.
• Strong quantitative aptitude and rigorous approach to experimental design.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to plan, execute, and deliver results on time.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment and be both an independent thinker and a collaborative team player.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with mammalian synthetic biology, including reporter design or genetic circuit engineering, is a plus.
• Experience with protein engineering, directed evolution, or deep mutational scanning is a plus.
• Experience with relevant cell biology (e.g. endocytosis, receptor trafficking, endosomal escape) or virology (viral entry, fusogens, pseudotyping, egress) is a plus.
• Experience with computational protein design or genome mining is a plus.
• Experience with animal handling and procedures (e.g. injection, tissue collection) is a plus.
• Prior experience in drug delivery, nanomedicine, extracellular vesicles, viral vectors, or lipid nanoparticles is welcome, but not required. We are equally interested in candidates from functional genomics, high-throughput screening, protein engineering, virology, and mammalian synthetic biology who are excited to apply those skills to a new problem domain.

How to Apply

Please submit:

• CV
• Brief cover letter describing your research interests, what kinds of projects you’re excited to lead, and why the Horns Lab is a fit. Please be sure to include contact information for 3+ references.

The base salary range for this position is $121,250 to $159,500. 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.