What are the responsibilities and job description for the Scientist, Mammalian Cell Engineering position at Affinity Talent?
About the role
This role sits between cell engineering, analytical development, and process development. You will design edits in primary immune-cell systems, evaluate whether engineered cells keep the right phenotype and function, and help decide which chassis is ready for process transfer.
- Team: Cell-engineering group of 4 embedded in a 30-person therapeutic platform
- Stage: Series B allogeneic cell therapy company expanding its lead programme
- Reporting line: Head of Cell Engineering
- Experience: PhD with 2 years, or MS with 4 years, in mammalian cell engineering, immune-cell biology, or cell therapy R&D
- Rhythm: Lab-based role with four onsite days in South San Francisco
Responsibilities
- Design knockout, knock-in, promoter, or landing-pad strategies for lead cell designs and run the experiments needed to compare them.
- Measure edit efficiency, target expression, phenotype, viability, post-thaw recovery, and functional activity using flow, qPCR/ddPCR, sequencing, and cell-based assays.
- Work with process development so cell construction methods, culture conditions, and analytical readouts can transfer into closed-system or scale-up workflows.
- Troubleshoot donor variability, delivery efficiency, cell stress, expansion limits, and assay artifacts before they slow the program down.
Requirements
- PhD with 2 years, or MS with 4 years, in mammalian cell engineering, immune-cell engineering, cell therapy R&D, immunology, bioengineering, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience using CRISPR-Cas, base editing, transposon systems, or related editing tools in mammalian cell lines, primary T cells, NK cells, iPSCs, or similar systems.
- Working knowledge of viral and non-viral delivery, population or clone screening, edited-cell expansion, and stability assessment.
- Experience running characterization assays such as multi-parameter flow cytometry, qPCR/ddPCR, targeted amplicon sequencing, killing assays, cytokine assays, or other cell-based functional readouts.
- Good experimental judgment around controls, donor-to-donor variability, viability issues, and the limits of small-scale assays before process transfer.
Preferred qualifications
- Prior experience with allogeneic cell therapies or ex vivo manufacturing processes.
- Familiarity with off-target assessment or next-generation sequencing library preparation.
- Strong understanding of cGMP manufacturing requirements and tech transfer principles.
Technical stack
- CRISPR/Cas editing
- electroporation/nucleofection
- viral vector delivery
- primary T-cell/NK-cell culture
- edited-cell expansion
- multi-color flow cytometry
- ddPCR/qPCR
- targeted amplicon sequencing
- cell-based functional assays
- Benchling
- GraphPad Prism
What we offer
- Base salary: $145k - $178k
- Equity / upside: Pre-IPO equity plus annual cash bonus tied to programme and company milestones.
- Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), commuter support, and relocation assistance within the US.
Pay: $145,000.00 - $178,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Stock options
- Vision insurance
Education:
- Doctorate (Preferred)
Experience:
- mammalian cell engineering: 2 years (Preferred)
- cell therapy R&D: 2 years (Preferred)
- immune-cell biology, : 2 years (Preferred)
Language:
- English (Required)
Work Location: In person
Salary : $145,000 - $178,000