Job Title: Research Associate - I
Location: San Diego, CA 92131
Duration: 9+ Months

Position Summary
The Structural Biology and Protein Sciences group is seeking a highly motivated contractor to support recombinant protein production efforts, primarily utilizing insect cell expression systems. The successful candidate will be responsible for maintaining eukaryotic cell cultures, generating and managing high-titer baculovirus stocks, and performing multi-liter scale protein expression and harvest workflows. Additional responsibilities include executing plate-based expression and purification profiling to enable rapid screening of construct and condition variants. This role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to operate efficiently in a fast-paced research environment.
 
Key Responsibilities

• Maintain healthy eukaryotic cell cultures, including insect (Sf9, Sf21, High Five) and/or mammalian expression lines.
• Generate, amplify, and quality-control baculovirus stocks, including centralized storage and record management.
• Execute multi-liter scale recombinant protein expression experiments, including infection, culture monitoring, and cell harvest.
• Perform small-scale, plate-based expression and purification profiling to assess expression levels, solubility, and purification behavior.
• Maintain accurate and timely records of experimental data, cell line usage, and virus stock inventories.
• Operate and maintain basic laboratory instrumentation and contribute to general lab support activities as needed.
• Collaborate closely with team members to optimize expression workflows and troubleshoot technical issues.

 
Minimum Qualifications

• BS degree in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific discipline.
• Minimum of 3 years of hands-on laboratory experience, including work with insect cell culture (e.g., Sf9, Sf21, Hi5) and/or mammalian cell culture systems.
• Demonstrated experience in aseptic technique and routine maintenance of suspension cultures.

 
Highly Desirable Qualifications

• Experience with the Bac-to-Bac baculovirus expression system, including donor plasmid preparation, bacmid generation, and virus amplification.
• Familiarity with plate-based expression and purification approaches (e.g., 24–96 well plates and rapid IMAC and other affinity-based screens).
• Experience conducting multi-liter expression campaigns and associated downstream sample handling.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and documentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams.

 
 
At SPECTRAFORCE, we are committed to maintaining a workplace that ensures fair compensation and wage transparency in adherence with all applicable state and local laws. This position’s starting pay is: $ 29.40/weekly.