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Calico Life Sciences · 22 hours ago

Scientist, Biochemical Assays

South San Francisco, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Mid, Senior Level

$156K/yr - $163K/yr

3+ years exp

Calico Labs is an innovative research and development company focused on understanding human aging. They are seeking a talented bench Scientist to lead the design and optimization of biochemical assays to support drug discovery efforts, while managing external partners and driving innovative assay technologies.

Biotechnology

Comp. & Benefits

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Lead protein-based assay development, designing and executing complex assays (enzymatic, PPI, protein-nucleic acid) utilizing diverse readouts (Luminescence, TR-FRET, AlphaLISA, FP) and advanced technologies (mass spectrometry, microfluidics) to interrogate novel biological targets

Go beyond routine screening to serve as a thought leader on assay strategy and mechanistic characterization and apply rigorous enzymological and biophysical principles to elucidate mechanism of action, kinetics, and thermodynamics of ligand-target interactions

Serve as a key technical lead on cross-functional teams, partnering with medicinal and computational chemists to drive Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) cycles

Interpret complex biological data to guide compound design and progress programs from target validation through to lead optimization

Oversee the transition of bench-scale assays to automated high-throughput formats, ensuring statistical rigor (Z-factor), miniaturization, and seamless integration with laboratory automation for large-scale campaigns

Identify, qualify, and manage CRO partners for assay transfer and routine screening; ensure external data quality matches internal standards to support the pipeline

Qualification

Biochemical assay developmentEnzymologyVitro pharmacologyProtein-ligand interactionsLaboratory automationQuantitative analysisMass spectrometryTR-FRETAlphaLISAGraphPad PrismPythonROrganizedMultitaskingCommunication skillsDetail-oriented

Required

PhD in Biochemistry, Biophysics, Pharmacology, or a related field, plus 3+ years of industry experience in biochemical assay development within a pharmaceutical or biotechnology setting

Extensive knowledge of steady-state kinetics, enzyme inhibition modes, and the quantitative analysis of protein-ligand interactions with demonstrated ability to apply these principles to elucidate mechanism of action, kinetics, and thermodynamics

Proven track record of designing and validating assays using diverse readouts (TR-FRET, AlphaLISA, FP, Luminescence, Mass Spec) and implementing them on laboratory automation platforms (Echo, Bravo, Hamilton)

Advanced quantitative skills with the ability to analyze kinetic data using specialized software (GraphPad Prism, Genedata, CDD, Python, R) and communicate these findings clearly to interdisciplinary teams

Demonstrated experience identifying, onboarding, and overseeing scientific work at external contract research organizations to ensure high-quality data generation

Excellent oral and written communication skills; detail-oriented, organized, flexible, and capable of multitasking in a fast-paced environment

Must be willing to work onsite five days per week

Preferred

Experience with orthogonal assay formats, including cell-based assays, complex media (lysates, lipid vesicles), or biophysical assays (SPR, DSF/TSA)

Hands-on experience with protein design, expression, and purification from various systems

Familiarity with microfluidics-based assays or High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry (e.g., RapidFire, SAMDI)

Experience with Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) or Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) assay formats (ternary complex formation)

Benefits

Two annual cash bonuses

Company

Calico Life Sciences

Glassdoor4.1

Calico is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies.

Founded in 2013

South San Francisco, California, USA

201-500 employees

http://www.calicolabs.com/

H1B Sponsorship

Calico Life Sciences has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship

Represents job field similar to this job

Trends of Total Sponsorships

2025 (12)

2024 (12)

2023 (7)

2022 (10)

2021 (5)

2020 (14)