Scientist, Upstream Process Development - Nucleic Acids
We are seeking a Scientist to join our Nucleic Acid Technologies team. If you consider yourself a highly motivated individual who values creativity and cross-functional collaboration to develop and characterize RNA and DNA therapeutics, this role is for you! As a member of the team, you will drive the development and refinement of existing and novel enzymatic reactions to achieve superior quality RNA therapeutics. Additionally, you will develop key analytical and biochemical tools to characterize the structure and activity relationship of RNA, alongside the impact of process changes that impact these properties. Your primary responsibility will be to develop and characterize upstream process steps, from early-stage development of enzymatic reactions through characterization of synthesized materials including establishing relationships between purity, structure, and function. The technical skills you’ll leverage to achieve success include upstream process development experience synthesizing synthetic DNA, mRNA, or other coding and non-coding RNA molecules and biochemical assay development experience characterizing nucleic acid molecular and structural properties and their relationship to function.
This position will be based in Allston, MA for the remainder of this year, and then the team will move to Bedford, MA in 2022.
Job Responsibilities
- Develop and refine enzymatic synthesis and modification reactions to synthesize and assemble high quality RNA therapeutic modalities
- Build and implement tools that characterize RNA purity, structure, and function
- Collect, analyze, and interpret data to drive multiple projects forward independently
- Collaborate closely with Process and Analytical Development teams to inform process improvements and establish robust characterization assays
- Establish correlation between RNA/DNA chemistry and structure impact on purification and formulation processes
- Maintain good electronic lab notebook practices that carefully document work
- Keep current in the scientific literature to adopt and apply novel methods to make and characterize functional RNA
- Present in cross functional meetings within the broader nucleic acids franchise
Qualifications
Our ideal candidate will be an energetic and hands-on lab scientist the field of nucleic acids. If you are detail oriented, work well in collaborative team settings, and are driven to innovate nucleic acid technologies and characterize their impact in therapeutic contexts, we encourage you to apply! Qualifications for this role include:
- Ph.D. or MS Degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, or related field
- 0-2 years (PhD) or +4-6 years (MS) of experience in pharmaceutical or biotech setting synthesizing and characterizing DNA, mRNA, and related enzymatically manufactured nucleic acid modalities
- Strong competency in enzymatic synthesis and characterization of DNA and RNA therapeutic modalities with specific experience or strong interest in mRNA and/or emerging coding and non-coding RNA technologies.
- Experience performing and interpreting data from relevant analytical techniques (HPLC, CGE, UV-Vis, CD, RT-qPCR, RNA-SHAPE…)
- Experience characterizing mRNA stability and translational activity in cell free contexts
- Motivated to be flexible/adaptable in small team environments
- Effective English verbal and written communication skills with a track record of high-quality publications and public presentations