Research Associate II, Microbiology

About us

Kingdom is the world’s first AI-native ingredients company. We create Superculture® ingredients from natural microbes to improve the health of pets and people. Brands use our ingredients because they deliver industry-leading efficacy and health benefits that consumers notice in just days.

AI powers how we develop, clinically validate, and manufacture our ingredients, enabling us to bring them to market faster and at lower cost. Developing a new ingredient has traditionally taken more than five years and tens of millions of dollars. Our small team is launching one clinically validated ingredient a year, at a small fraction of that cost.

Kingdom has clear product-market fit, with accelerating customer demand:

• After just a year in market, our ingredients are already in dozens of products from household pet brands. And 95% of our first-time customers are launching additional products with us.

• Each ingredient improves our discovery platform, clinical engine, and manufacturing expertise, so we can develop the next one faster and at lower cost.

• We’ve raised nearly $40M from leading investors to bring our ingredients to more brands and markets around the world.

Our number one priority is turning proven ingredient performance and early commercial traction into repeatable growth across customers and markets. We’re looking for highly resourceful, high-throughput individuals who solve problems from first principles, make sound decisions, communicate clearly, and move quickly.

More than $300B is spent every year on pet and human health products. Our ambition is to make clinical efficacy the standard across that entire market.

All full-time roles are in person at our Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters and lab.

About the role

Kingdom is at an inflection point. Demand for our Superculture® pet ingredients is accelerating, and we are preparing to commercialize our first human ingredient. Every one of those ingredients starts in the same place: our biobank. Growing and maintaining that collection of microbes, and generating the sequencing data that tells us what we have, is foundational to everything we build.

The Research Associate II, Microbiology is at the center of that work. You will join our lab team to own day-to-day biobanking and sequencing operations, from processing new sources and isolating novel strains, to keeping our existing collection healthy, to running PCR, library prep, and sequencing.

If you’re an early-career scientist looking to deepen your experience in microbiology and molecular biology, take ownership of a range of workstreams, and grow with a fast-moving biotech, we want to hear from you.

If you join, you will:

• Grow and maintain Kingdom’s biobank by obtaining, processing, and organizing sources, isolating new strains, regenerating older strains, and making and cataloging strain stocks

• Culture and isolate microbes using rigorous aseptic technique, working with BSL-1 and BSL-2 strains and with anaerobes in our anaerobic chambers

• Obtain pure isolates and prepare screening plates to support new projects

• Run PCR and gel purification for Sanger sequencing needs

• Own DNA extraction and library preparation for 16S/ITS and whole genome sequencing

• Run qPCR assays and process the resulting data

• Use liquid handlers to scale high-throughput methods, and troubleshoot and improve protocols along the way

• Execute on in vitro cell-based models

• Support experimental characterization of Superculture® ingredients

We’re looking for you if you have:

• A BS or MS in microbiology, molecular biology, or a related life-sciences field

• 1-2 years of hands-on experience in a microbiology or molecular biology lab, in academia or industry

• Strong aseptic technique and direct experience isolating and culturing microbes, including preparing culture media

• Hands-on experience with DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and sequencing library preparation

• Meticulous execution and documentation habits, with bench work that others can trace and reproduce

• Experience with lab automation, including liquid handlers

• Strong organization, with the ability to juggle requests from multiple teams and meet turnaround commitments

• A troubleshooting mindset and the drive to find and fix problems without waiting to be asked

Working with us

Kingdom is based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with our full team working out of a 9,000 sq-ft headquarters and lab space. We operate in a high-trust, high-autonomy environment, which requires that everyone uphold our core values:

• Solve from first principles. We have a deep-seated curiosity about the most important problems facing the business. Our nature is to dig deeply into their details, question assumptions, understand the smallest details, and drive towards the best possible solution using these insights. This makes us very effective in crafting new solutions and operating in ambiguous circumstances.

• Collaborate with kindness. We are very low ego, and treat each other with respect, compassion, and humility. We hold one another to high standards, but do so while being deeply committed to each other's wellbeing. We invest in each other's growth, and are willing to engage in difficult conversations and deliver direct, constructive feedback when necessary.

• Be resourceful and resilient. We figure out how to make things work, and how to accomplish our goals regardless of what stands in the way. We're keen to confront challenges together through proactive planning and scrappy methods. When things go wrong, we learn quickly from our missteps, adapt our approach, and push forward.

We provide competitive compensation with generous equity. Everyone who joins Kingdom will be a major contributor to our success, which we reflect in our approach to ownership and compensation. The cash salary range for this role is $80-85K, with the final starting salary being determined by qualifications, experience, skill set, and internal equity. Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our company’s size and industry, and are one part of a total compensation package that also includes benefits (more below) and equity (to be discussed more during the interview process).

We also provide a rich benefits package to support our team:

• Fully covered, best-in-class medical, vision, and dental insurance

• Free memberships to One Medical, Teladoc, and Talkspace

• Flexible PTO, in addition to 13 paid company holidays (including a weeklong winter closure from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day)

• 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, with the option to extend up to 24 weeks total

• 401(k) plan, FSA option, and commuter benefit of your choice

• Fully stocked kitchen with fruits, snacks, coffee, and tea, plus weekly team lunches

Kingdom is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.