Principal Scientist, Synthetic Biology

Principal Scientist Synthetic Biology

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At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. R&D is committed to discovering and delivering transformational vaccines and medicines to prevent and change the course of disease.

We believe the Greater Boston area is an important hub for the biotech and pharma industry, which is why we've invested in growing our footprint and expanding our R&D space in Cambridge, with a primary focus on additional state-of-the-art lab space. Here, we will bring together talent and expertise, building upon GSK's long history of vaccine development, to create globally leading viral capabilities and cutting-edge vaccines technologies, as we add to our robust portfolio targeting infectious diseases at every stage of life.

In the plan to create a new hub for mRNA-based vaccine discovery in Cambridge, we are building new laboratories that will be focused on the development of state-of-the-art methods that will be supporting deep product understanding, process and product development, as well as testing of pre-clinical and clinical samples for new mRNA-based vaccines.

The Molecular Biology Lab sits within the Viral Vaccines Unit based out of GSK's Cambridge Park Drive facility in Boston, Massachusetts. The Molecular Biology team provides key molecular biology and cell biology support to mRNA vaccine discovery and development programs and is also responsible for implementing new techniques and technologies to improve high throughput generation and screening of vaccine candidates, including high-throughput cloning, high-throughput RNA generation and high-throughput in vitro cell-based characterization.

We are seeking a Principal Scientist who is expected to lead the implementation of a novel DNA assembly platform and provide expertise in synthetic biology. We are looking for a highly motivated scientist, with a proven record in utilizing the most up to date molecular biology techniques in a high-throughput environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide expertise in synthetic biology, error-free linear DNA synthesis and next-generation sequencing
• Lead the implementation of a novel DNA assembly platform
• Support the integration of a LIMS to ensure data tracking
• Utilize and optimize high-throughput molecular and cell biology workflows for vaccine candidate generation
• Work with other scientists to design and develop new assays and technologies to support RNA vaccine development and evaluation

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in life sciences with 3+ years of postdoctoral or industry experience, or Master's degree with at least 6 years of relevant experience
• Three or more years of experience in synthetic biology, including PCR, Golden Gate assembly, Gibson assembly, and site directed mutagenesis

• Three or more years of experience with NGS sample preparation and data analysis
• Three or more years of experience operating automated liquid-handers for DNA assembly (Tecan, Hamilton, Echo, etc.)

• One or more years of experience with common molecular biology software, e.g. Geneious, and adept at analyzing large volumes of sequencing data
• One or more years of experience in RNA biology, RNA production and purification

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in high-throughput RNA in vitro transcription techniques and familiarity with RNA virology and/or RNA based vaccine technology
• Experience in cell-based assays using High-Content Imaging

• Experience programing liquid-handling robotics systems (Tecan, Hamilton, etc.)
• Familiarity with LIMS to support high-throughput workflows and data tracking

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GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose - to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together - so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns - as an organisation where people can thrive. We prevent and treat disease with vaccines, specialty and general medicines. We focus on the science of the immune system and the use of new platform and data technologies, investing in four core therapeutic areas (infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/ immunology and oncology).

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