Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture Operations

Your Impact at LILA

The Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture Operations will be responsible for the day-to-day execution and maintenance of mammalian cell culture activities that support LILA's research programs. This is a highly hands-on role focused on reliability, consistency, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate brings strong bench fundamentals, meticulous documentation habits, and the ability to support the translation of manual workflows into automation-compatible processes as LILA's capabilities evolve.

What You'll Be Building

• Perform routine and advanced mammalian cell culture (maintenance, expansion, passaging, cryopreservation, thawing) across adherent and suspension cultures spanning a wide variety of cell types (immortalized lines, primary cells, stem cell–derived cultures, patient-derived lines, co-cultures, etc.); monitor cell health, adapt culture conditions for sensitive/non-standard cell types, and troubleshoot issues as they arise
• Manage cell banks (inventory, quality checks, characterization records such as STR profiling and mycoplasma status) and coordinate reagent/consumable procurement to ensure uninterrupted cell supply for research and platform teams
• Perform flow cytometry / FACS acquisition and analysis for cell characterization and quality checks
• Help bring cell culture onto our automated platform — translating manual protocols into automated/semi-automated workflows, executing and troubleshooting runs, and verifying performance against manual benchmarks
• Operate liquid handlers and other automated/semi-automated lab systems hands-on for cell culture and downstream workflows
• Author and improve SOPs to streamline operations, reduce variability, and improve consistency across cell types and workflows
• Coordinate with research and platform teams on cell supply needs and timelines, support onboarding of new cell types, and analyze/present cell culture and cell health data (e.g., viability statistic gates, trend monitoring) to stakeholders
• Maintain a clean, safe, and organized lab in accordance with biosafety guidelines (e.g., BSL-2), and mentor/train junior Research Associates on aseptic technique, cell-type-specific handling, and automated workflow execution
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What You'll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree in Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, or related life sciences field with 4+ years of relevant hands-on cell culture experience, or Master's degree with 2+ years of experience
• Demonstrated experience culturing a broad range of mammalian cell types — including primary cells, stem cells, iPSC-derived cells, or other sensitive/complex cultures — with strong aseptic technique and a track record of maintaining healthy, contamination-free cultures across varied conditions
• Comfort working across multiple concurrent projects with shifting priorities and cell types in a research (non-GMP) environment, independently troubleshooting culture issues and diagnosing subtle changes in cell health or behavior
• Hands-on experience with flow cytometry / FACS acquisition and analysis, and with liquid handlers or other automated/semi-automated lab systems
• Comfort with data analysis, presentation, and interpreting cell health statistics/gating, along with excellent documentation habits (ELN or similar record-keeping systems)
• Excellent communicator and collaborator, able to work with scientists across research programs as well as partner with automation, software, data, and robotics teams to translate cell culture needs into platform requirements

Bonus Points For

• Experience with primary cell isolation, expansion, or maintenance (e.g., PBMCs, hepatocytes, neurons, cell lines), including iPSC culture, differentiation protocols, or 3D culture systems
• Familiarity with cell line authentication and quality control practices (STR profiling, mycoplasma testing)
• Experience developing and validating new culture protocols from the literature or from scratch, in a shared/core lab or multi-project R&D support role
• Experience translating manual cell culture protocols into automated or semi-automated workflows, along with reagent/consumable inventory management or procurement coordination
• Comfort using AI-native tools for troubleshooting, data analysis, and workflow support