Raven StealthCo - Associate Scientist, In Vitro Pharmacology and Assay Development

About the Company

Raven is RA Capital's healthcare incubator, dedicated to turning scientific breakthroughs into transformative therapies. RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager with over $10 billion in assets under management and more than 150 employees.

Raven StealthCo is a well-funded, stealth-mode biotechnology company focused on next-generation oligo-based modalities targeting tissues beyond the liver, muscle, and kidney. The company is building a platform to deliver oligos with high precision to previously untargeted cells, targeting "undruggable" genes with pipeline-in-a-drug potential across multiple disease areas. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company was incubated in RA Capital's venture group and is led by an experienced CEO.

Opportunity

The company is in the discovery stage and investing heavily in its emerging platform for oligonucleotide delivery, with a disease focus offering strong translatability from animal models to humans. Given recent funding and commitment to building a first-in-class platform, Raven StealthCo is recruiting an Associate Scientist In Vitro Pharmacology and Assay Development.

The Position

The Associate Scientist reports to the Director of Biology and Pharmacology and works closely with delivery, conjugation chemistry, and analytical colleagues. This lab-based role spans two capabilities: a rigorous in vitro pharmacology engine using physiologically relevant primary and stem-cell-derived models, oligonucleotide screening, and mechanism-of-action work; and hands-on support of externalized in vivo pharmacology, executing ex vivo analyses on samples returning from CRO-run studies. As a founding member of the scientific team, this person helps build the lab and define core assays. First-year priorities include standing up cell culture, bringing CRO-run cell-based screening in-house, and establishing tissue-processing and ex vivo readouts.

Responsibilities

• Stand up the company's cell culture from the ground up: primary and stem-cell-derived cells, directed differentiation, and readouts of maturation and functional states
• Design, develop, and run reproducible in vitro assays for oligonucleotides and conjugates, quantifying target engagement and PD effect across delivery formats (RT-qPCR, digital PCR, branched-DNA, immunoassays) and characterizing dose–response for conjugate optimization
• Build an assay toolkit for deeper hit profiling, including uptake, internalization, and trafficking assays for conjugate-mediated delivery
• Establish tissue-processing techniques and the ex vivo PD and efficacy analyses supporting in vivo studies (including RNA and protein extraction from difficult tissues); run the readouts on returning CRO samples and contribute to the ex vivo analytical plan up front
• With analytical chemistry, deliver the tissue-exposure and biodistribution data anchoring PK/PD interpretation
• In line with the team's biomarker strategy, develop and implement assays for translational biomarkers that track PD effect, target engagement, and early efficacy into development
• Bring in new methods, technologies, and vendors where existing approaches fall short, and operationalize methods once established: robust, documented, transferable assays with defined controls, acceptance criteria, and performance tracking
• Help build the lab (procurement, installation, equipment qualification), train future team members, and build and maintain the templates and records the organization runs on (data management, inventory, SOPs, assay protocols, and electronic lab notebook)
• Work hand-in-hand with the Director, the in vivo pharmacology lead, delivery scientists, and chemists to keep in vitro and ex vivo readouts timely and well-controlled, and contribute ideas and interpretation to broader scientific discussion

Qualifications

• BS with 8+ years or MS with 6+ years of relevant experience, preferably in biotech settings. Title will be commensurate with depth of qualifications and experience
• Hands-on aseptic technique and mammalian cell culture (immortalized and primary lines) and end-to-end cell-based assay development (conception, optimization, troubleshooting, routine execution); experience with differentiation or stem-cell-derived systems strongly preferred
• Strong molecular biology and biochemistry: RNA and protein isolation from cells and tissues and quantitative gene- and protein-expression analysis (RT-qPCR, ddPCR, MSD/ELISA, Protein Simple, flow cytometry)
• Experience with oligonucleotide modalities and a range of delivery systems (transfection, free uptake, LNP, and/or conjugate), and supporting in vivo pharmacology through target-engagement, pharmacodynamic, and translational biomarkers
• Fluency accessing and synthesizing -omics datasets (RNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics), with enough grounding in the methods to scrutinize and interpret the data
• Some familiarity with histology and in situ tissue analysis (sectioning, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, microscopy, quantitative image analysis), and some coding for larger-dataset analysis (R or Python), are pluses
• A track record of establishing a method, assay, or capability that did not previously exist in a lab, including the documentation and training that made it reliable for others
• Initiative and independent scientific thinking: identifying a problem, proposing an approach, and carrying it through with limited supervision
• Process- and detail-oriented, with the creativity to build novel assays while keeping data decision-grade, and an effective communicator who operates independently in the lab

Personal Characteristics

• Collaborative, collegial, intellectually curious, driven, trustworthy, and humble, with sound judgement and strong technical decision-making
• Helps shape a culture rooted in psychological safety, where good ideas are welcomed from any seat, respect is paramount, failure is a chance to learn rather than a cause for blame, and accessible mentorship is the spine of strong teams
• Committed to rigorous science and to the patients waiting for treatments that better meet their needs, moving with urgency
• Thoughtful, highly organized, and energized by a fast-paced start-up environment, with real influence on the science and room to grow as the company advances
• Degree in a relevant discipline such as pharmacology, physiology, or cell and molecular biology preferred; education will not constitute the primary variable in the decision process—personal characteristics, leadership abilities, technical fluency, creativity, work ethic, behavioral flexibility, and demonstrated accomplishments will serve as key components

Pay

Base salary range: $100,000 - $120,000 USD. Final compensation will depend on factors like experience, skills, and location. The role may also be eligible for an annual bonus and long-term incentives.

Schedule

This person will be based at the company's headquarters in Cambridge, MA, on a hybrid schedule dictated by wet-lab experimental needs.