At Element Biosciences, we are passionate about our mission to empower the scientific community with more freedom and flexibility to accelerate our collective impact on humanity. We have built a highly efficient product-driven organization where employees can learn, grow, and thrive in a challenging but encouraging environment. We are committed to scientific integrity, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, and openness.
We are seeking an experienced Senior Staff Scientist to join our Biochemistry team, focused on the product development of multiomic technologies, reagents, and workflows for tissue-based applications. The successful candidate will lead efforts to design, implement, and optimize Element’s biochemical and molecular workflows that enable spatially resolved multiomic analysis of tissue samples.
This is a bench-focused role with significant responsibility for deliverables to product development, reagent formulation, and workflow optimization. The scientist will collaborate closely with teams across biochemistry, chemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and engineering to transition early concepts into robust, manufacturable products. This role will report to the VP, Biochemistry and is an onsite role at our San Diego headquarters.
If you possess the following and want to make a meaningful impact, we invite you to explore this role.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:
- Design, develop, and optimize biochemical workflows and reagents for tissue-based multiomic applications
- Design, conduct, analyze, and report on assays for developing workflows including in tissue sample sequencing of RNA, protein detection, and morphology
- Integrate and test new chemistries and enzymatic methods to improve assay performance, robustness, and reproducibility
- Contribute to product-oriented development efforts, including reagent stability, scalability, and manufacturability
- Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, chemistry, and software teams to ensure workflow compatibility with Element’s sequencing platforms
- Analyze complex datasets and contribute to data interpretation and workflow optimization using coding and computational tools
- Prepare detailed documentation, present findings to project teams and leadership, and contribute to publications and intellectual property filings
Education and Experience:
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, or a related field, with 7+ years of postdoctoral or industry experience in molecular assay or reagent development
- Strong background in nucleic acid and/or protein biochemistry, particularly in tissue-based or in situ assays
- Demonstrated experience developing and optimizing reagents or workflows for biological assay products
- Hands-on experience with tissue sample preparation, in situ hybridization, immunostaining, or enzymatic labeling
- Industry experience in tissue-based product development, including reagent formulation, sample and workflow optimization, and validation
- Experience with NGS-based readouts, multiomic workflows, or image-based molecular detection
- Knowledge of design controls, assay verification, or manufacturing transfer processes
- Strong record of innovation demonstrated by patents, publications, or successful product contributions
- Proven ability to design experiments, analyze data, and troubleshoot complex biochemical systems
- Proficiency in computational analysis for biological datasets using Python, R, or MATLAB
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to collaborate effectively in multidisciplinary teams
Physical Requirements:
- Ability to lift up to 20 pounds
Location:
- San Diego (onsite)
Travel:
- Domestic travel up to 10%
Job Type:
- Full-time/Exempt
Base Compensation Pay Range:
- $167,000 - $197,000
In addition to base compensation noted above, you will be eligible for stock options, discretionary annual bonus, no cost health insurance plans, 401k with company match, and flexible paid time off.
Please note: Base compensation will depend on multiple factors, including geographic location, qualifications, and experience.
We foster an environment such that all people are afforded the freedom to pursue their passions without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status or any other characteristics protected by law.
Top Skills
What We Do
Element Biosciences is a multi-disciplinary startup focused on innovating genetic analysis tools for the research and diagnostic markets. We are developing a modular and high-performing DNA sequencing platform that will deliver high-quality data, increase workflow flexibility, and make next-generation sequencing technology more accessible. Our proprietary approach to improving the signal-to-noise ratio allows us to provide groundbreaking innovations in surface chemistry, instrumentation, and biochemistry to drastically decrease run costs and capital costs while delivering high sequencing data quality.
