Associate Scientist in London

About Us: You rarely get the chance to change an entire industry. But that's the position we find ourselves in. Join us, and you'll help scale cures to patients that need them sooner. We've developed fully-automated cell manufacturing sites powered by custom robotics - to scale therapies to millions of patients. Last year, patients were cured of diseases like Parkinson's Disease and vision loss using stem-cell derived cells - but today these Regenerative Medicines are produced by hand, meaning they're too expensive and hard to scale. With our automated CDMO, these therapies can now be scaled globally at low cost. We've announced partnerships across multiple therapies so far ranging from Parkinson's, to hearing loss, to bone repair - and raised $24m to expand into the market faster, and accelerate our development! Within the next 12-18 months, neurons grown on our machines will be going into Parkinson's patient brains. We've assembled a world-class team to take on this challenge, with ex-Dyson engineers and Nature-published scientists working hand-in-hand.

The Role: We are looking for a hands-on Associate Scientist to join our Biology team and help push the limits of automation in cell therapy manufacture. You'll work alongside our scientists and engineers, with mentoring from senior scientists, and generate the data that shapes how our processes and platforms develop. Your work will feed directly into process development, new platform R&D and the running of the lab that makes it all possible. This is a unique opportunity to build your career at the interface of engineering and biology. You'll start with well-defined, SOP-based work packages and, through structured training grow towards independent execution.

Core Responsibilities:

• Research and Development – Run experiments across process development, product testing and new platform R&D, then present your results to the team. Your data will help decide how our processes and platforms evolve.
• Cell culture – Help maintain the team's iPSC lines and differentiation cultures, including feeding, passaging, cryopreservation and banking. Every experiment we run is built on these cells, and you'll learn to culture them to a high standard.
• Lab operations – Keep the lab running as part of the maintenance rota (stock checks, waste, autoclaving, cleaning hoods, incubators and shared equipment), and own the upkeep of your assigned equipment. Fast, reliable science depends on a well-run lab, and everyone on the team contributes.

Skills & Experience Required:

• BSc or MSc in Cell Biology, Biomedical Sciences or a related discipline
• Hands-on laboratory experience in mammalian cell culture with strong aseptic technique.
• Experience running standard assays for cell characterisation (e.g. cell counts and viability, flow cytometry, plate reader based assays), and preparing reagents and media accurately.
• Strong attention to detail: you follow SOPs consistently, document your work to a high standard, and spot and report deviations, unexpected results or equipment issues promptly.
• Understanding of good experimental design principles, including the role of controls and replicates.
• Ability to collate, analyse and present data clearly using standard tools (e.g. Excel, GraphPad Prism).
• Excellent organisation – able to manage multiple concurrent work tasks and plan around cell culture schedules.
• Clear communicator who is comfortable reporting progress and raising risks, blockers and delays.
• A collaborative, team-first attitude, including a willingness to share in the work that keeps the lab organised and running smoothly.

Desired:

• Experience in routine iPSC/ESC culture (feeder-free maintenance, passaging, cryopreservation) and differentiation.
• Familiarity with standard stem cell characterisation assays (e.g. flow cytometry, ICC, qPCR).
• Experience working on hardware systems that interface with Biology.

Salary and Benefits:

• Competitive salary with stock options
• Lunch covered daily
• Collaborative team environment with very high potential to learn new skills
• 24 days holiday (excluding bank holidays)
• Pension
• Awesome colleagues and an office in the Imperial College Innovation hub in White City, where you'll be based.

We’re building a team that enjoys moving fast, strives for continuous improvement through learning from mistakes and is passionate about work that contributes to solving real world problems. Join us if you want a fast-paced environment, where you’re empowered to make decisions and do the best work of your career.