Scientist, Assay Development (Contract)

Company Summary:

Quotient Therapeutics Ltd is a privately held, early-stage company developing a novel genomics platform and therapeutics for diseases with a large unmet need.

The company was founded by Flagship Pioneering, an innovative enterprise that conceives, creates, resources, and grows first-in-category life sciences companies. Flagship Pioneering has created over 100 groundbreaking companies over the past twenty years, all of which are pioneering novel and proprietary biological, industrial, and engineering approaches to solve major needs in human health and sustainability. These companies include Moderna (MRNA), Generate Biomedicines, Sana Biotechnology (SANA), Tessera Therapeutics, Evelo Biosciences (EVLO), Indigo Agriculture, Seres Therapeutics (MCRB), and Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS). We are an equal opportunity employer.

Position Summary:

We are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic Assay Development Scientist to join our passionate team. The role will be responsible for driving innovation in Quotient’s NGS workflows, and lead the implementation of spatial biology/single cell technologies for our somatic genomics platform. The successful candidate will be a self-starter, able to thrive in a fast-paced, action-oriented team environment and have a clear passion for the science we are doing. They will have demonstrated evidence of agility in their scientific work and an overt attitude of positivity when facing challenges. They will be dedicated to learning and development, embrace feedback and be open to working outside their comfort zone.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be an active member of the Assay Development team, conducting bench-based experiments.
• Drive innovation in our core next-generation sequencing (NGS) library preparation methods.
• Lead piloting and implementation of spatial biology/single cell platforms at Quotient.

• Manage cross-functional teams to deliver complex projects, modelling good practice in project management.

• Explore the scientific literature and propose innovative new tools/methods to support Quotient’s overarching goals.

• Advise senior management on strategic decision-making.

• Develop standard operating procedures for new versions of assays to enable smooth transfer of processes to Quotient’s high-throughput lab.

• Maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and quality standards, including the Human Tissue Act and COSHH.

• Collaborate and communicate with other team members across various functional areas.

Key Skills and Experience:

Essential

• BSc or MSc degree in biochemistry, molecular biology or microbiology, or a related field.
• A minimum of 8 years' post-graduation experience in NGS workflow research and development and/or spatial genomics.
• Experience in the design and optimization of PCR workflows.
• Hands-on experience in the implementation and troubleshooting of spatial transcriptomics and/or single cell platforms, such as 10X Xenium or Chromium.
• Evidence of an ability to devise novel solutions to research challenges and drive technological innovation.
• Knowledge and experience of working under HTA regulations.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Experience working with digital productivity tools such as Notion, Trello or Jira.
• A high degree of energy, accuracy and attention to detail, and a passion for contributing to work leading to the creation of transformative medicines for patients with serious diseases.

Desirable

• Experience in the isolation and handling of RNA, especially for NGS library preparation.
• Use of laboratory information management systems (Benchling preferred).
• Experience with histological processing of human tissues.
• Previous experience in a biotech or pharmaceutical industry setting.
• PhD in a relevant discipline.

About Flagship

Flagship Pioneering is a bioplatform innovation company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture. Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies, and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.