What are the responsibilities and job description for the Research Associate, Early Stage R&D position at Helaina?
Helaina is a VC-backed biotech startup creating a new category of functional food products.
Our vision is to bring the functional properties of human proteins to food. Helaina will be the first company to put human milk proteins into food, defining a new category of consumer nutrition products focused on supporting immunity. We see a range of opportunities to use our breast milk proteins to enhance other types of functional foods for all segments of the population.
Helaina is backed by top VCs in the industry including Spark Capital, Siam Capital, Primary Venture Partners, and Plum Alley. We are a team of change-makers looking for our next team member who is intensely passionate about advancing synthetic biology for food and beverage products and redefining the future of nutrition.
About the Team :
Helaina is a team brought together by the belief that health and developmental outcomes of all infants can be improved through nutritional options closest to breast milk. Our team is revolutionizing the infant nutrition space by developing a food product meant to uniquely support babies in their earliest stages. Helaina's R&D ecosystem harnesses the power of naturally occurring biological processes in tandem with modern advances in the space of synthetic biology, fermentation, and improved industrial processing.
We are a fast-paced startup looking for our next team member who is intensely passionate about advancing synthetic biology for food and beverage products and redefining the future of nutrition.
About the Job :
In this role, you will work in our lab to provide support to the Design and Build unit of the Early Stage Research & Development team. The successful candidate will be a hands-on, motivated self-starter with a strong sense of initiative. You will be responsible for building, verifying and troubleshooting plasmids and strains, as well as maintaining glycerol stocks. Opportunities for cross-training in other departments will also be provided.
What You'll Do :
- Work with other members of the Early Stage R&D team on experiments and data analysis.
- Design and build plasmids using cloning techniques such as Gibson Assembly, Golden Gate Assembly and Ligation. Analyze sequencing data to confirm plasmid constructions.
- Use CRISPR to build strains with desired interventions.
- Troubleshoot experiments and propose alternate strategies to challenges.
- Keep careful records of experiments and communicate results in a timely and effective manner. Process data from experiments to draw insightful conclusions.
- Organize and maintain DNA and glycerol stocks. Collaborate with other members of the R&D team to coordinate transfer of glycerol stocks and results.
- Read papers to understand the biology behind relevant interventions and present this information at meetings. Keep up with current developments in the field.
About You :
Compensation is market-competitive with a yearly cash base of $65k - $75k plus equity.
Benefits :
Helaina was founded on the belief that families should have freedom of choice. We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace that does just that, supporting our team's health, wellbeing and professional development at every stage and milestone. We are proud to offer comprehensive health care, generous parental leave and childcare reimbursement, equity packages and more. A few highlights include :
Visit us at https : / / www.myhelaina.com / news to learn more about Helaina.
Helaina is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Helaina we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may just be the strongest candidate for this or other roles. For more information, please contact careers@myhelaina.com.
Salary : $65,000 - $75,000
