Research Assistant Cambridge, East of England, England
Job description
Want to help change how the world is fed?
Higher Steaks was founded to transform the global food system by making delicious and nutritious food – from animal cells and plants. We are pioneering the development of cultivated meat to solve some of the globe’s growing challenges in health, sustainability and animal welfare.
We're a purpose, science and engineering-driven company dedicated to creating breakthrough technologies that will help address and push the boundaries of what’s possible – delivering innovations that benefit people and the planet.
Our brilliant team are experts in their respective fields, drawn from around the world. We’re passionate, curious, innovative and at the forefront of the ground-breaking work being done in this exciting and rapidly growing sector. Higher Steaks is a well-funded biotech company and we tripled our headcount in 2022. We’ll continue to expand through 2023, so this is a great time to join us and become part of the team solving one of the most important challenges we face today!
The role
Join us at the forefront of a revolutionary industry as we work to bring cultured meat products from the lab to a commercial scale. As a Research Associate at Higher Steaks you will play a crucial role in supporting the company's efforts to develop and produce meat using cellular agriculture techniques. You'll be a part of our dynamic, cutting-edge research & development team working on innovative multi-disciplinary projects in Cell Line Development, Cell Differentiation, and Cell Growth. Our team is dedicated to ensuring the materials we generate and the processes we use are fully characterised, high-quality, cost-effective, scalable, and compliant with the highest regulatory, health and safety standards. Based at our new state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, UK, this is a unique opportunity to be a part of something truly groundbreaking.
What you’ll be doing:
You’ll work closely with our Scientists to:
- Maintain stem cell cultures in a variety of conditions, formats and scales
- Assist in the development and optimisation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including their dissemination.
- Prepare samples for analytical assessment, according to SOPs
- Perform analytical and characterisation assays, according to SOPs, including cell, protein, qPCR and metabolite assays.
- Ensure the availability of project materials (including preparation of stock reagents), monitoring and ordering consumable stocks where necessary
- Ensure scientific data is recorded and reported in accordance with SOPs or other applicable regulatory frameworks.
- Interact and collaborate with scientists across all teams
- Set an example of Good Laboratory Practice for the wider laboratory team
What we think you need:
- Undergraduate degree in Life Sciences/related discipline, or equivalent years of relevant work experience.
- Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture and exceptional aseptic technique
- Working knowledge of standard laboratory equipment (i.e. pipettes, pH meter, centrifuge).
- Experience with core laboratory techniques e.g. microscopy, RNA and DNA extraction, qPCR, cell-based assays, ELISAs, flow cytometry (N.B. this criteria is dependent on the team allocation and can be discussed at interview)
- Experience of writing and reviewing SOPs,thorough record keeping, with strong organisational and communication skills, and good work ethic
- Computer literate with the ability to familiarise yourself with different IT systems and software
- Excellent communication, numeracy and English language skills (both written and verbal)
- Ability to follow protocols to a reproducibly high standard
- Ability to show initiative and problem-solving
- Ability to work autonomously and within a team (training can be provided)
We’d love it if you also have:
- Experience working with stem cell cultures e.g. ESCs, iPSCs or MSCs
- Experience with high-throughput automation
- Knowledge of stem cells and differentiation protocols
- Experience of working with cells at larger scales, ideally suspension cultures
Reward
Alongside a competitive base salary all our people get these benefits:
- Share options
- Flexible hours
- 28 days annual leave
- Enhanced parental leave pay
- Cycle-to-work scheme and gym membership
- "Make your work life easier" annual stipend
- Regular team dinners and social activities
- Snacks, fruits, tea, coffee and more!
Please be advised that our company is unable to sponsor visas for this role. Only candidates who already have the Right to Work in the United Kingdom without sponsorship will be considered for this position.
Higher Steaks recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, disability, age, and other protected status as required by applicable law. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by incumbents assigned to this job. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the functions, responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position, and HigherSteaks Limited retains the discretion to modify.
