RNA Delivery Formulation Discovery and Characterization Scientist

QUALIFICATIONS

• MSc or PhD in a life sciences or related discipline (for example, chemistry, biophysics, or a relevant branch of engineering) with at least one substantial project demonstrating prior experience in nucleic acid (RNA or DNA) delivery or an adjacent delivery modality in either academia or industry.

• An ability to read and understand diverse literature across the many disciplines relevant to nucleic acid delivery to distill the best new ideas in the field and apply them to our work.

• A track record of coming up with and successfully executing new ideas in nucleic acid delivery and formulation, or a related field.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. The ability to present scientific findings clearly and concisely is a vital and non-negotiable component of success at PopVax.

• A collaborative mindset and the ability to work effectively within a team environment.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a demonstrated track record of independently interpreting experimental data and troubleshooting technical challenges.

• A willingness to shoulder substantial and often repetitive formulation and characterisation workloads on a daily basis when needed.

• A desire to rapidly learn, troubleshoot, and master new experimental techniques.

AREAS OF RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Note that you don t need experience in all of this, just a subset, but the more experience you have across these areas, the better.

• Lipid or polymer-based drug delivery and formulation, preferably for nucleic acids, and ideally for mRNA in particular.

• Microfluidics, preferably for lipid or polymeric nanoparticle synthesis, encapsulation, and characterisation.

• Formulation or nanoparticle characterisation, including particle size and zeta potential measurements, pKa determination, and viscosity.

• Nucleic acid quantification techniques such as RiboGreen-style assays and NanoDrop-style spectrophotometry.

• Gel electrophoresis for nucleic acid and protein characterisation (including by Western blot).

• Formulation or nanoparticle downstream purification methods such as ultrafiltration and TFF.

• Cell-culture of immortalised cell lines, as well as transfection of nucleic acids and nucleic acid formulations.

• Cell-based assays such as reporter assays (Luciferase, GFP) and ELISA.

• The setup and operation of high-throughput in vitro screening protocols for delivery formulations.

• Formulation or assay automation, including lab automation equipment setup and programming.

• Animal studies of drug or vaccine delivery formulations, ideally nucleic acid delivery.