Senior Research Associate, Viral Production (Fixed-Term Contract)

Location: Onsite in Palo Alto, California, 5 days per week; occasional early or late hours and weekend work may be required.

Base salary: $84,250–$114,250 per year.

Company

hirify.global is an independent nonprofit research organization working at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology to accelerate scientific progress and understand complex diseases.

What you will do

• Execute staggered lentivirus production rounds from small-scale arrayed formats to large-scale pooled-library productions using suspension and/or adherent systems.
• Concentrate, filter, aliquot, titrate, and quality-control viral lots before delivery to requesting teams.
• Forecast demand, scale production runs, and coordinate schedules with Genome Engineering, Cellular Models, Mammalian Disease Models, and Alzheimer's Disease Initiative teams.
• Document production runs, QC results, viral inventory, distribution, aliquot tracking, and metadata in Benchling.
• Troubleshoot failed productions, maintain reagent and consumable inventories, and coordinate proactive procurement.
• Improve the end-to-end viral production platform, including automation, higher-throughput formats, QC standards, and additional viral systems.

Requirements

• BS degree in a relevant field with 4+ years of relevant experience, or MS degree with 2+ years of relevant postgraduate experience.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, aseptic techniques, and scaled lentivirus production using suspension and/or adherent systems.
• Experience with viral titration, QC methods, filtering, single-use aliquoting, cryopreservation, and viral-stock inventory management.
• Ability to execute reproducible multi-step protocols, manage staggered production schedules, anticipate demand, and maintain meticulous documentation.
• Familiarity with reagent operations and LIMS/ELN platforms such as Benchling, plus strong cross-functional communication skills.
• Must work onsite in Palo Alto 5 days per week; the position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Nice to have

• Experience developing or using automation for viral production or titration at scale.
• Experience optimizing viral yield, quality, and consistency, or working with multiple viral production systems including AAV.
• Experience with both plate-based and pooled-library lentivirus production formats.
• Experience managing external vendors for cloning and plasmid preparation.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in a collaborative team-science environment combining experimental and computational biology.
• Support high-volume research programs focused on the Virtual Cell Initiative and Alzheimer's Disease Initiative.
• Work alongside more than 300 researchers at the Palo Alto headquarters.
• Fixed-term 18-month position with long-term, research-focused institutional funding.