Postdoctoral Fellow, Nile Lab - Ubiquitin/UBL Chemical Biology

Responsibilities

• Lead Independent Research: Focus on their own project(s), which should pursue new research directions with dedicated resources for innovative and potentially high-risk/high-reward research
• Contribute to Calico’s Core Mission: Contribute to furthering an understanding of aging and age-related diseases
• Drive Scientific Progress: Execute experiments meticulously, analyze data (including computational analysis if applicable) and troubleshoot procedures as needed
• Publish Work: Generate work that is expected to be submitted for publication in a timely fashion upon completion of the assignment
• Collaborate and Communicate: Actively collaborate across Calico's diverse teams and scientific community, including presenting progress and results to diverse audiences of computational scientists, lab scientists, and engineers
• Engage with a community of other Postdoctoral Fellows and senior leadership through professional and career development opportunities, such as the annual Postdoc Summit, research-in-progress presentations, senior leader lunch sessions, and skill-building workshops

Requirements

• The successful candidate will demonstrate characteristics valued across Calico's programs, including being a self-motivated team player, detail-oriented, extremely organized, and comfortable working on complex problems.
• Education: Must have recently completed a PhD degree in a relevant scientific or computational field. Current PhD student applicants should be within 12 months of completing their PhD. Applicants who have already graduated must have completed their PhD within the past 3 years and not have been employed as a postdoc at more than one other lab/company since graduation.
• Experience: Must have made important contributions to science in their area, ideally demonstrated by having had a meaningful first author paper accepted for publication.
• Technical Versatility (General): While specific technical skills are project-dependent, proficiency in core scientific methodologies, analytical skills, and quantitative problem-solving is essential.
• Communication: Strong teamwork and communication skills are required.
• Adaptability: Must be flexible and able to respond quickly to shifting priorities, demonstrating a "can-do" attitude.
• Onsite Availability: Must be willing to work onsite five days per week

Application Requirements

• Research proposal (a 1-2 page creative and original research proposal on what you’d like to investigate in the Nile Lab during your fellowship - note that project goals may evolve during the training period)
• Updated CV with a full list of publications
• Cover letter
• List of 2-3 references that we may contact, including your PhD thesis advisor and any postdoctoral advisors (if applicable)

About The Nile Lab

The Nile Lab investigates the fundamental mechanisms by which E3 ubiquitin ligases recognize, modify, and regulate substrates. We aim to understand the biochemical and biophysical principles governing ubiquitin/UBL signaling, how E3s achieve specificity, how their activity is modulated, and how these insights can inform systematic strategies to redirect E3-ligase activity through chemical biology.

We use a wide range of approaches such as structural biology, chemical biology, directed-evolution/selection technologies, and advanced imaging or biophysical methods. We welcome proposals that address core questions in ubiquitin signaling through rigorous biochemical experimentation and creative approaches.

Ideal candidates will be highly quantitative, intellectually fearless, and collaborative team players who thrive in a multidisciplinary environment.

Pay

The estimated base salary for this role is $95,000.