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Scientist Cell Biology - Assay Development
Contract: Thousand Oaks, California, US
Salary Range: 35.00 - 40.00 | Per Hour
Job Code: 371748
End Date: 2026-10-18
Days Left: 27 days, 8 hours left
Position Details:
Job Title: Scientist — Cell Biology and Assay Development
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
Work Arrangement: 100% onsite
Schedule: Monday–Friday, approximately 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Contract Duration: 12 months
Pay Rate: $35.00 - $40.00 per hour
Relocation: Candidates requiring relocation may be considered, provided they are willing to relocate at their own expense.
Basic Qualifications
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Doctorate degree OR Master's degree and 2 years of experience OR Bachelor's degree and 4 years of experience
Top 3 Must Have Skill Sets:
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Mammalian cell culture: Strong hands-on experience generating, maintaining and characterizing engineered/stable mammalian cell models.
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High-content imaging: Hands-on experience with high-throughput/high-content fluorescence imaging, including Opera/Opera Phenix or comparable platforms, assay setup, image acquisition and quantitative image analysis.
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Confocal and cell-based assays: Strong experience with confocal microscopy, fluorescence-based cellular assays, experimental troubleshooting and quantitative data analysis.
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Day to Day Responsibilities:
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Maintain and characterize mammalian cell cultures and engineered cell models; generate new stable/transduced cell lines as needed; execute and optimize cell-based assays; perform fluorescence microscopy and flow-cytometry experiments; support molecular/cellular biology workflows; analyze and document experimental data in ELNs; troubleshoot experimental workflows; maintain appropriate cell stocks and reagents; and collaborate with scientists across project teams to execute prioritized experiments.
Job Description:
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The ideal candidate is a hands-on scientist with strong experience developing, optimizing, troubleshooting, and executing cell-based assays using mammalian cell culture systems.
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Rather than simply having routine cell culture experience, the team is particularly interested in candidates who have used cell-based models to answer research questions, develop assays, generate relevant readouts, and evaluate compounds.
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Strong candidates may bring experience with imaging, plate-based assays, flow cytometry, cell-line development, reagent development, or compound testing and should demonstrate the scientific thinking necessary to troubleshoot challenging experiments and generate high-quality, interpretable data.
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Industry or postdoctoral experience is highly desirable, but the team is flexible on degree level and total years of experience when the candidate has strong, relevant technical capabilities.
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Candidates should be comfortable in a highly hands-on, execution-focused role where project priorities may shift and where they will work against established project objectives rather than independently setting the research direction.
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Research and Development organization is seeking a motivated Contract Worker Scientist to support emerging discovery programs. This role will establish cell lines and fit-for-purpose cellular assays, then apply these assays to characterize novel compounds and advance mechanistic understanding.
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The successful candidate will be an independent, reliable experimental scientist with strong mammalian cell culture, cell-engineering, and assay-development expertise. They will work closely with a cross-functional team spanning biology, chemistry, and protein science.
Key Responsibilities
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Culture, maintain, and manipulate mammalian cell lines using rigorous cell-culture practices.
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Generate and characterize engineered cell lines using transfection, viral transduction, genome editing, and stable-cell-line selection.
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Develop, optimize, and execute plate-based cell assays for compound screening, hit validation, target engagement, protein modulation, mechanism of action, and cellular health.
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Apply appropriate assay formats, including luminescence-based reporter assays, complementation assays, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence/imaging, western blotting, qPCR, and other fit-for-purpose cellular methods.
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Support imaging-based experiments and quantitative image analysis when needed.
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Plan experiments independently, troubleshoot technical issues, maintain detailed records, analyze data, and communicate results clearly to the broader project team.
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Contribute to the evaluation and prioritization of compounds across multiple early-discovery programs.
Basic Qualifications
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PhD in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical biology, or a related discipline; or
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MS degree in a related discipline with 3–4 years of relevant industry or academic research experience.
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Preferred Qualifications
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Recent, hands-on mammalian cell culture experience.
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Demonstrated experience with cell engineering, including transient transfection, lentiviral transduction, and generation of stable cell lines.
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Experience developing and running plate-based cellular assays.
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Experience with protein-degradation, target-engagement, or mechanism-of-action studies is strongly preferred.
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Experience with fluorescence or high-content imaging, image analysis, flow cytometry, antibody staining, and immunofluorescence.
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Familiarity with western blotting, qPCR, reporter assays, and high-throughput or medium-throughput compound testing.
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Ability to independently prioritize day-to-day experimental work, generate high-quality data, and troubleshoot without frequent supervision.
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Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
Benefits:
The Company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, short-term disability insurance, paid parking/public transportation, (paid time , paid sick and safe time , hours of paid vacation time, weeks of paid parental leave, paid holidays annually – These all are subject to applicable eligibility).
The Company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, short-term disability insurance, paid parking/public transportation, (paid time , paid sick and safe time , hours of paid vacation time, weeks of paid parental leave, paid holidays annually – These all are subject to applicable eligibility).
Job Requirement
- Mammalian Cell Culture
- Cell Biology
- Cell-Based Assays
- Assay Development
- Assay Optimization
- Cell Engineering
- Stable Cell Lines
- Lentiviral Transduction
- Transfection
- High-Content Imaging
- High-Throughput Imaging
- Fluorescence Imaging
- Confocal Microscopy
- Opera Phenix
- Quantitative Image Analysis
- Flow Cytometry
- Immunofluorescence
- Plate-Based Assays
- Compound Screening
- Hit Validation
- Target Engagement
- Mechanism of Action
- Protein Degradation
- Reporter Assays
- Western Blot
- qPCR
- Cellular Health Assays
- Experimental Troubleshooting
- Quantitative Data Analysis
- Cell Line Development
- Drug Discovery
- Discovery Biology
- Cell-Based Screening
- R&D Scientist
Reach Out to a Recruiter
- Recruiter
- Phone
- Siddhi Kadakia
- siddhi.kadakia@collabera.com
Apply Now
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