Associate Scientist/Scientist, Protein Biochemistry

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Job description

Associate Scientist/Scientist, Protein Biochemistry
Palo Alto, CA

Summary
You will contribute to discovery and development assays for some of the most challenging and high-impact genetic diseases and bring our early discovery, pre-clinical programs to the next level. Suppose you have expertise in developing and optimizing various biophysical, biochemical, molecular, and cellular assays and want to be on the ground floor to build this internal capability. In that case, we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Help drive basic research towards the clinic at hyper-speed
• Collaborate with Scientists on Assay design and execution
• Support execution, data analysis, and interpretation of experiments within our laboratory
• Communicate findings and implications to senior leadership
• Use a variety of biochemical, genetic, and pharmacological techniques to advance multiple candidates from discovery research to clinical development
• Maintain detailed notes, draft protocols for experiments, and plan for required reagents

Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant scientific field (e.g., biochemistry, molecular biology, chemical biology, neuroscience, biophysics, cell biology, biological/chemical engineering, etc.)
• Minimum B.S. + 6 years of experience, M.S. + 8 years, or PhD
• Demonstrated record of achievement as evidenced by first-author publications, grants, patents, scholarships, or awards
• Experience of protein overexpression in E. coli, insect, or mammalian cells is required. In addition, experience in AKTA protein purification system and various purification techniques (Ni-NTA, ion exchange, size exclusion chromatography) is also expected
• Knowledge and experience with mass spectrometry/NMR analysis of biomolecules is a strong plus
• Extensive knowledge of protein structure and function and ability to design expression vectors for a variety of protein expression systems
• Experience with a wide range of biophysical, biochemical, molecular, and cellular biology techniques, including protein conjugation, immunohistochemistry (IHC), ELISA, Western blot, qPCR, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence
• Experience in the execution of microplate-based assays for enzymes, such as endpoint & kinetic assays, luminescence & fluorescence assays, e.g., AlphaLISA, Lumit, ELISA, Fluorogenic and Chromogenic enzyme assays; In particular, experience with TR-FRET assay is desirable but not required
• Experience with high-throughput drug screening and/structure biology is desirable but not required
• Experience with data analysis and visualization programs such as Matlab, ImageJ/ImageStudio, python, GraphPad Prism, and PyMol is a plus
• Ability to work collaboratively with a broad research team and to be a strong team player
• Research integrity, enthusiasm, self-motivation, flexibility, and readiness/ability to learn new methods are critical

Company Description:

About Ascent:

Ascent is a leading national technology consulting and professional services firm that focuses on tactical and strategic consulting. Ascent's fundamental business is providing staffing services to Large Enterprise clients in our core market verticals: Financial Services, Healthcare, and Life Sciences. We focus the majority of our efforts in Staff Augmentation support of Large Enterprise Clients who utilize a Vendor Management System. Ascent works as both a reliable supplier in support of programs, as well as a Strategic Advisor in support of enterprise efforts to establish best in class preferred vendor programs. Ascent was ranked in the 2007 and 2008 Inc. 500 and recognized specifically for its innovative work in staff augmentation support of Large Enterprise preferred vendor accounts.

If you are ready to propel your career to new heights… read on. We are looking for talented and dedicated colleagues to join our phenomenal team. At Ascent, we have created an environment where culture, commitment and opportunity converge to yield a truly unique place to work. We know that every employee has something important to say and that every employee is integral to our success. Where else can you walk over to a founder and talk about your ideas to help build our business and have that idea implemented in 48 hours? More importantly, we do everything we can to make sure our employees not only have great jobs, but great lives.