Job Description
What We are Looking For
Vivere Oncotherapies is an early-stage life sciences company driving the next generation of solid cancer treatment. We are looking for a Research Associate / Sr. Research Associate to join our growing company and be a critical member of our scientific team. As a Research Associate / Sr. Research Associate on the non-clinical development team, the selected candidate will be responsible for manufacturing oncolytic viral vectors and performing experiments to support translational research to advance these therapies from discovery to the clinic.
Key Responsibilities
● Production of research-scale viral vectors to develop state-of-art oncolytic virotherapy.
● Conduct large scale cell culture and purification of oncolytic viral vectors.
● Perform all aspects of bioprocessing and quality control, including tissue homogenization, virus titration, density gradient centrifugation, tangential flow filtration, endotoxin measurement, and/or buffer and media preparation.
● Optimize manufacturing process, troubleshoot, update protocols/procedures as needed.
● Work closely with in vivo scientists and the discovery team in a fast-paced biotech startup environment.
● Assist in vivo study as needed: monitoring, measuring body weight and tumor burden, preparing materials, sample/data analysis.
● Proficient in compliance, including accurate documentation of experimental records, batch information, inventory tracking, and adherence to SOPs.
● Analyze data and prepare reports or presentations as needed.
● Maintain compliance with the institution’s Environmental Health & Safety policies.
● Commit to building and maintaining a company culture that promotes inclusivity,
teamwork, strong work ethic, critical thinking, and innovation.
Required Qualifications
● A B.S. or M.S. degree holder in molecular, cellular, or microbial biology; biochemistry; bioengineering; or a related field. with at least one full year of prior wet-lab experience.
● Minimum 2+ years of experience in wet lab biological experimentation.
● Consist of repetitive work and ability to manage samples and documents with strong organizational skills.
● Experience in mammalian cell culture, immunoassay (ELISA), plaque assay, Nucleic acid isolation, and qPCR.
● Order and maintain materials, cell lines, consumables, and equipment for cell culture and manufacturing process.
● Ability to conduct optimization studies and viral vector production independently with
strong attention to detail.
● Efficient working knowledge of operational and scientific software programs, including Benchling, Geneious, Graphpad Prism, and Illustrator.
● Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) with ability to present ideas, information, and data effectively.
● Strong work ethic, flexibility, and collaborative mindset.
● Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. and able to work onsite at our Berkeley, CA-based (75%) and Alameda-based (25%) labs
● Hands-on experience in mouse handling and basic in vivo experimental techniques.
Preferred Qualifications
● Prior experience in viral vector manufacturing, handling bioreactors, high-density cell culture, exosome purification, and lab automation is strongly preferred.
What You’ll Receive by Joining Us
● Opportunity for Growth: You will be an early employee at a rapidly growing and transformative biotech start-up company.
● Mentorship and Collaboration: You will have daily contact and collaboration with leading oncology, immunotherapy, and virology experts
● Unparalleled Working Environment: As an employee of a Bakar Labs tenant company, you will work at the heart of the UC Berkeley ecosystem, providing exclusive access to cutting-edge resources and some of the greatest entrepreneurial and scientific minds in the world.
● Impactful Mission: Your work will directly contribute to bringing new treatments to cancer patients.
● Comprehensive Benefits: Medical/dental/vision, retirement, paid time off, generous holiday schedule, and stock options.
Who We Are
Vivere Oncotherapies’ mission is to revolutionize gene therapy delivery to unlock the full potential of immunotherapy for cold, solid tumors. Vivere Oncotherapies is developing best-in-class, IV-administered oncotherapy products with
improved delivery, efficacy, and safety for the treatment of solid cancers using our proprietary discovery platform. Our experienced leadership team is applying our powerful protein engineering platform to generate improved delivery vehicles that can selectively replicate within tumors, mediate multi-tumor antigen targeting by immune cells, and express multiple cargoes that overcome the immunosuppressive environment of cold tumors. We are on a bold mission to provide solutions to patients with immunologically cold, solid tumors for which there are not effective standards of care.
Our team consists of leaders in the oncology, immunotherapy, and gene therapy fields from academia and industry. We are backed by top-tier life sciences investors and an STTR grant from the National Institutes of Health.
We value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin orancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local laws.
We do not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies or other third parties and will not pay fees associated with such resumes.
