Research Associate, High-Throughput Screening and Operations

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Job description

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.Core to our organism engineering pipeline is the testing and analysis of our engineered strains, using state-of-the-art analytical and automation technologies. We're looking for highly talented and motivated associates to join our high-throughput screening (HTS) operations team to help carry out these critical functions. With your demonstrated ability to evolve a process in response to changing technology and demands, and your desire for quality output, you will provide essential HTS transformation services, sample management, and culturing services that ensures quality data delivery to a cross-functional set of Ginkgo teams.ResponsibilitiesCreate strain libraries through automated colony picking and strain banking workflowsCulture microbial strains using a variety of automated solutions for use in high-throughput screensMaintain, follow, and optimize current SOPs and laboratory protocols for maximum efficiency and yieldOperate and troubleshoot laboratory automation in order to execute efficient, robust high-throughput workflowsImprove and develop workflows to support the engineering of new organismsAnalyze run quality metrics, create reports of workflows, and share results with broader teamEnsure operational excellence by communicating developments to team members across shiftsDesired Experience and CapabilitiesBS or MS in biology, chemistry, bioengineering, chemical engineering, or related field2-5 years of operations experience, preferably within an industry environment (Note: recent or soon-to-be graduates must have at least 1 year of academic research experience (can be part time) that was acquired outside of their required coursework)Experience operating/troubleshooting laboratory automationExperience with experimental design and data analysisIn addition, competitive candidates will have at least one of the following:Experience operating/troubleshooting laboratory automationExperience in QA/QC or statistical process control, such as Six Sigma or lean manufacturingFlexibility to work some weekend shifts as neededTo 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.Apply for this job