Research Associate I

Job Title: Research Associate I
Location: San Diego, CA
Type: Contract
Compensation: $24-$29.40/hr
Contractor Work Model: Onsite
Hours: 40.0 hours per week

Overview
Leading pharmaceutical company looking for an experienced Research Associate I. Ideal candidates should have at least 3 years of lab experience working with either insect or mammalian cell cultures, aseptic techniques, and routine maintenance of suspension cultures.

Responsibilities

• Maintain healthy eukaryotic cell cultures, including insect (Sf9, Sf21, High Five) and/or mammalian expression lines.
• Generate, amplify, and quality-control baculovirus stocks, including centralized storage and record management.
• Execute multi-liter scale recombinant protein expression experiments, including infection, culture monitoring, and cell harvest.
• Perform small-scale, plate-based expression and purification profiling to assess expression levels, solubility, and purification behavior.
• Maintain accurate and timely records of experimental data, cell line usage, and virus stock inventories.
• Operate and maintain basic laboratory instrumentation and contribute to general lab support activities as needed.
• Collaborate closely with team members to optimize expression workflows and troubleshoot technical issues.

Requirements

• BS degree in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific discipline.
• Minimum of 3 years of hands-on laboratory experience, including work with insect cell culture (e.g., Sf9, Sf21, Hi5) and/or mammalian cell culture systems.
• Demonstrated experience in aseptic technique and routine maintenance of suspension cultures.
• Highly desirable:
  
  • Experience with the Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system, including donor plasmid preparation, bacmid generation, and virus amplification.
  • Familiarity with plate-based expression and purification approaches (e.g., 24-96 well plates and rapid IMAC and other affinity-based screens).
  • Experience conducting multi-liter expression campaigns and downstream sample handling.
  • Strong analytical, organizational, and documentation skills.
  • Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams.