{"id":3716062,"url":"https://alion.io/job/plasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development","title":"Scientist, Assay & Automation Development","company":{"id":686905,"name":"Plasmidsaurus","domain":"plasmidsaurus.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/plasmidsaurus","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":87,"open_postings":6,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.333,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":65,"computed_at":"2026-11-08T05:47:12Z"}},"role":"Science & Research","role_family":"Science & Research","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":170000,"max":185000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":185000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Cell Culture","optional":false},{"name":"PCR","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-04T00:00:20Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-04","last_verified_at":"2026-11-08T05:28:11Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":4,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":4},"description":"About Plasmidsaurus\nPlasmidsaurus is on a mission to accelerate new cures and promote a healthier planet by unlocking a new level of productivity for scientists. Our sequencing services are used daily by thousands of innovators, including Nobel laureates, Fortune 100 pharma, and over 70,000 scientists.\nWe began by revolutionizing plasmid sequencing, making it exponentially cheaper and faster, with innovative sequencing technologies and a global network of laboratories that turn samples into answers in hours, not weeks.\nNow we are expanding that same disruptive model across all of genomics. With the launch of our new RNA-seq service, we are taking a bold step toward our vision to sequence everything, providing scientists everywhere with faster, simpler, and more affordable access to the data that powers discovery.\nEvery team member at Plasmidsaurus plays a crucial role in driving the future of biotech research. Together, we are building the world’s most efficient sequencing engine that operates overnight, scales globally, and helps scientists make breakthroughs faster than ever before.\nAbout the Role\nWe are now looking to combine our deep experimental expertise with robotics and emerging AI tools to rethink how biology experiments are performed and push the boundaries of knowledge generation. You will be developing new scientific capabilities to explore more questions, test more hypotheses, and generate knowledge at a speed and scale that hasn’t been possible before.\nThis is an opportunity for a scientist who loves both discovery and building. You’ll work across scientific disciplines, develop methods that don’t yet exist in our labs, and see your work move quickly from an idea to a functioning system, all while being laser-focused on answering questions that actually matter. This is not a role where you’ll spend your time repeating established protocols - you’ll help create entirely new ways to do science.\nYou are someone who:\nEnjoys high agency and high ownership work\n\nIs excited to reshape how experimental science is performed to accelerate discovery of the next generation of medicines\n\nApplies first-principles thinking and understands the science behind methods, not just how to follow protocols\n\nUnderstands the opportunities and challenges in scaling experiments\n\nIs a life-long learner who learns quickly across disciplines\n\nIs excited to work in a tight-knit fast-paced environment with a motivated team\n\nValues clear communication and helping others learn new skills\n\nWhat you’ll be doing\nDevelop New Scientific Capabilities\nDesign, develop, and validate experimental methods that expand the range and complexity of scientific questions we can investigate\n\nEstablish new capabilities such as protein expression and purification, ribosome display, mRNA display, cDNA display, and other high-throughput molecular biology techniques\n\nAdapt methods across disciplines and develop new approaches when established protocols fall short\n\nDrive Experimental Discovery\nLead research projects from hypothesis and experimental design through execution, data analysis, and iteration\n\nUse data, computational tools, and LLMs to accelerate experimental design, troubleshooting, and analysis\n\nCollaborate with scientists and engineers to integrate new capabilities into increasingly sophisticated automated systems\n\nAccelerate Science Through Automation\nTranslate complex, manual wet-lab protocols into reliable, reproducible robotic workflows\n\nBuild and optimize experiments for our fleet of liquid handling robots, identifying and removing the limits that prevent experiments from being automated\n\nSupport our research team in the adoption of automated protocols\n\nWhat success looks like\nWithin 30 days: align with the team on the capabilities to build, and deliver at least one new robotics-accelerated capability (e.g. protein expression and purification, or a high-throughput display method)\n\nWithin 3 months: independently lead an end-to-end robotics-accelerated research project, and establish automated workflows reliable enough to become the team’s preferred approach\n\nWithin 6 months: expand the robot fleet’s capabilities by closing gaps in methods, hardware, and automation; replace manual protocols with automated ones; build a foundation of reusable methods for more complex experiments\n\nQualifications:\nPhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, or a closely related wet-lab discipline\n\nStrong hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques, including PCR, cell culture, and sequencing\n\nExperience developing, troubleshooting, and optimizing biological workflows\n\nPractical expertise in protein expression\n\nExperience with high-throughput display technologies (ribosome, mRNA, cDNA, or phage display)\n\nHands-on experience scaling workflows and improving throughput, reliability, and reproducibility through robotics\n\nExperience using LLMs and computational tools in scientific work\n\nData analysis skills to evaluate experimental results and guide decisions\n\nTrack record of developing, adapting, or implementing new methods to solve challenging research problems\n\nWe encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't perfectly align with the job description as we seek out diverse and creative perspectives. Team members who love to learn and collaborate in an inclusive environment will thrive with us. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need additional accommodations to feel comfortable during your interview process, please let us know at .","description_format":"text","description_chars":5713,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Biotechnology","Molecular Diagnostics","Microbiome"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-04T00:48:39Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":0,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 6","filings_12m":6,"filings_prev_12m":4,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":52500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-07T07:57:00+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":4,"expected_fill_days":65,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-08T05:47:12Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":185000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/plasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/plasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-08T07:07:31Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":15472,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-09T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":686905},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=686905"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fplasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fplasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fplasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/plasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fplasmidsaurus-scientist-assay-automation-development"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3716062}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"plasmidsaurus.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3716062},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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