High-Throughput Screening Lead

Ginkgo Bioworks, Boston, MA

THE ORGANISM COMPANY

Duration: Full-Time

The HTS Operations Lead is responsible for operating, managing, improving, and maintaining dedicated high-throughput screening robotic platforms to ensure timely execution of high-quality, microtiter-plate based biochemical and cell-based HTS screens. We are looking for a highly motivated manager to build and support a strategy to drive integrated automation and screening technologies in a manner that scales across an expanding set of microbial and mammalian synthetic biology applications.

Responsibilities

Development of a strategy to support the growth of the screening platforms and team
Manage operations on our automated platforms for executing high-throughput screens in 96 deep well, and 96, 384, and 1536 standard well plate formats
Coordinate, schedule, and forecast with internal stakeholders for timely execution of screens and analysis using LIMS data systems and Python scripts
Collaborate with HTS assay developers to develop and execute screens on robotic platforms and ancillary equipment
Optimize screening workflows to increase throughput and efficiencies while maintaining high-quality results
Work with our Automation team to troubleshoot instruments, improve screening systems, and evaluate new technologies

Desired experience and capabilities

BS or MS in biology, chemistry, bioengineering, chemical engineering, or related field
3 or more years of experience in a High-Throughput Screening environment
At least 1 year experience in resource or project management; additional familiarity with software tools such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheets, or JIRA is a plus
Excellent organizational and communication skills
Experience operating/troubleshooting laboratory automation

In addition, competitive candidates may have at least one of the following

1+ year experience working in a clinical or pharmaceutical or relevant industry
Familiarity with both in-vitro and whole cell assays
Competency in at least one programming language (Python preferred)
Experience in QA/QC or statistical process control, such as Six Sigma or lean manufacturing is a strong plus

To learn more about Ginkgo, check out some recent press:

Ginkgo Bioworks CEO on scaling up Covid-19 testing: ‘If we try, we can win’ (CNBC)

Ginkgo raises $70 million to ramp up COVID-19 testing for employers, universities (Boston Globe)

Ginkgo Bioworks Redirects Its Biotech Platform to Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal)

Ginkgo Bioworks Provides Support on Process Optimization to Moderna for COVID-19 Response (PRNewswire)

The Life Factory: Synthetic Organisms From This $1.4 Billion Startup Will Revolutionize Manufacturing (Forbes)

Synthetic Bio Pioneer Ginkgo Raises $290 Million in New Funding (Bloomberg)

Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts (Reuters)

Can This Company Convince You to Love GMOs? (The Atlantic)

We also feel that it’s important to point out the obvious here – there’s a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equality, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.

We’re developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can – and will – impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it’s something we’ll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it’s critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.

About Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks is the organism company. We design custom microbes for customers across multiple markets. We build our foundries to scale the process of organism engineering using software and hardware automation. Organism engineers at Ginkgo learn from nature to develop new organisms that replace technology with biology.