Sr. Associate Scientist I Full-time NEW

Sr. Associate Scientist I, Biology

At RayzeBio, every day is an opportunity to ignite meaningful change. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb, RayzeBio blends the nimble, pioneering spirit of an emergent biotech with the global expertise and resources of a leading innovator in oncology. Our mission is to develop transformative radiopharmaceutical therapies that offer new hope for patients living with cancer. Here, you'll join a multidisciplinary team where your ideas are valued, your expertise is amplified, and collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. From day one, expect to make an immediate impact—on our science, on our teams, and most importantly, on patients.

RayzeBio is a dynamic biotechnology company headquartered in San Diego, CA. Launched in late 2020 and recently acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) as a wholly owned subsidiary, the company is focused on improving survival of people with cancer by harnessing the power of targeted radioisotopes. RayzeBio will operate as a standalone entity within the BMS organization, maintaining its biotech culture with the opportunity to leverage the best-in-class oncology capabilities of BMS. RayzeBio is developing innovative drugs against targets of solid tumors. The lead asset, RYZ101, is in Phase 3 testing for patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), as well as earlier stage testing for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Led by a successful and experienced entrepreneurial team, RayzeBio aims to be the global leader in radiopharmaceuticals.

The laboratory-based role offers an opportunity to help advance novel radiopharmaceutical therapies from laboratory into clinical testing. The candidate is responsible for developing, optimizing, and transferring biochemical and cell-based assays, including equilibrium binding assays, to support target validation, compound screening, and mechanism of action studies for various pipeline projects. A strong foundation in mammalian cell culture is essential. The ideal candidate will be a critical thinker and a technical problem solver who enjoys working in interdisciplinary drug discovery teams. The role requires an ability and willingness to work with radioactive isotopes.

Job Responsibilities

• Maintain and expand mammalian cell lines, including the generation of overexpressing and knockout lines, for use in screening and functional assays. Validate reagents to characterize target expression and ensure cell line quality and consistency.
• Develop, optimize, and run biochemical and cell-based assays to support the screening, characterization, and lead-identification of novel RPT agents.
• Support assay transfer and qualification activities, including documentation of protocols, acceptance criteria, and reproducibility assessments across teams or sites.
• Work with radioactivity in various assays in strict adherence to the radiation safety protocols.
• Work under the guidance of project team leaders to support the overall biology screening and evaluation plan. Work closely with chemists, DMPK, imaging, and in vivo teams to ensure implementation of screening funnel and appropriate prioritization of experiments.
• Generate, organize, and maintain meticulous records on all conducted experiments.
• Independently analyze and interpret data and present experimental plans and results at project team meetings, group meetings, and company meetings.
• Actively contribute to the experimental design and planning efforts to help achieve project goals under tight timelines.
• Collaborate with colleagues in other functional areas including translational research and chemistry.
• Assist in laboratory operation management duties.

Education and Experience

• BS with 3–6 years of experience or MS with 2–4+ years of experience within Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, or a related discipline with hands-on laboratory experience including cell culture and assay development.
• Prior experience working on drug discovery projects in an industrial or an academic setting is preferred.

Skills

• Demonstrated expertise in mammalian cell culture with strong aseptic technique, and in vitro assay development and optimization, including equilibrium binding assays (saturation and competition formats). Experience with assay transfer, qualification, and troubleshooting across laboratories is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in techniques such as ELISA, MSD, flow cytometry, western blot, qPCR, and immunohistochemistry.
• Experience with cell line engineering techniques (e.g., CRISPR, lentiviral transduction, stable transfection) for generating tool cell lines.
• Proficiency with data analysis and visualization software (e.g., GraphPad Prism) for dose-response curve fitting and statistical evaluation of assay data.
• Understanding of receptor-ligand binding theory and basic pharmacological concepts.
• Excellent written and oral communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills with the ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic, and collaborative environment.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work with radioisotopes with strict adherence to radiation safety protocols.
• Experience applying AI and computational tools to enhance data analysis, automate routine workflows, and support data-driven decision-making is desirable.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and distance vision.

This is a position that requires working in a laboratory environment, protective clothing, gloves, and safety glasses are required while working in a laboratory environment with radioactive materials.

Work Environment:

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate