Research Associate II, Molecular Biology

Ginkgo Bioworks, Boston, MA

THE ORGANISM COMPANY

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. Today, our foundry is developing over 40 different organisms to make different products across multiple industries. We are seeking genetic engineers to improve and scale our existing technologies, and define and develop the next set of genetic technologies that will lie at the center of the foundry.

We are seeking an inquisitive Research Associate II to join the Build team to help us run and improve our yeast genome engineering service. You will be responsible for amplifying, purifying and transforming DNA to create new strains for our program team. You are the ideal Build operator if you love working closely with a team in a fast paced environment to deliver high quality processes. We need your enthusiasm for accuracy and yeast biology, to help us meet our mission of making biology easier to engineer. Please consider applying even if you don't have all of the qualifications.

#LI-RB1

Responsibilities

Operate our semi-automated high-throughput genome engineering pipeline employing our custom software, automated liquid handling, and molecular biology tools.

Work with software developers, biologists, and automation engineers to troubleshoot and improve our processes.

Identify and communicate process deviations quickly and efficiently.

Share responsibilities and collaborate professionally with team members.

Desired Experience and Capabilities

BS or MS in biology, microbiology, genetics, or equivalent plus 1+ years wet-lab experience.

Background in yeast biology and standard molecular biology techniques (e.g. PCR, restriction digestion, transformation, and Next Generation Sequencing)

Understanding of metabolic engineering methods

High attention to detail and accuracy, and strength working independently

Ability to multitask, accommodate flexibility, and manage time effectively to meet deadlines

Excellent communication and customer service skills

Scripting, programming, or laboratory automation experience a plus

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

What is it really like to take your company public via a SPAC? One Boston biotech shares its journey (Fortune)

Ginkgo Bioworks resizes the definition of going big in biotech, raising $2.5B in a record SPAC deal that weighs in with a whopping $15B-plus valuation (Endpoints News)

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, equity, 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.