Senior Research Associate Viral Production
Independent nonprofit research institute building AI-and-biology tools and conducting biomedical research on complex diseases.
Maintainer signals as of 9/25/2026
About Arc Institute
Arc Institute is a Palo Alto-based independent nonprofit founded in 2021. It supports long-term biomedical research and develops experimental, computational, and machine-learning technologies, including virtual-cell and genomic foundation models, in partnership with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UCSF.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will produce high-quality lentivirus for perturbation screening and cell-engineering work. You will plan and execute staggered production rounds, scale production to forecast demand, perform titration and quality control, manage viral inventory, and troubleshoot failures. You will maintain production documentation, procure essential supplies, and improve viral-production processes, throughput, and consistency.
Requirements
- BS degree in a relevant field with 4+ years of relevant experience, or MS degree in a relevant field with 2+ years of relevant postgraduate experience
- Proficiency in mammalian cell culture and aseptic techniques
- Hands-on experience producing lentivirus at scale using suspension and/or adherent systems
- Ability to execute reproducible multistep production protocols
- Experience with viral titration and quality-control methods
- Experience filtering, aliquoting, cryopreserving, and managing viral stocks
- Documentation, record-keeping, organizational, planning, and time-management skills
- Familiarity with reagent inventory, operations management, and LIMS/ELN platforms such as Benchling
- Communication and cross-functional coordination skills
- Ability to work onsite in Palo Alto five days per week
Responsibilities
- Execute staggered small-scale and large-scale lentivirus production rounds
- Produce lentivirus using suspension and/or adherent systems
- Concentrate, filter, and aliquot virus into single-use aliquots
- Perform functional titration and quality control for each viral lot
- Forecast demand and schedule production rounds to meet projected needs
- Document production runs, titer and quality-control outcomes, inventory, and distribution in Benchling
- Troubleshoot failed productions and reschedule work to maintain supply continuity
- Maintain inventory and procure key reagents, media, and consumables
- Establish and operate an end-to-end viral production platform
- Optimize production scale, quality, and lot-to-lot consistency
- Work onsite in the Palo Alto office five days per week