Research Assistant, Integrated Genomics Operation

About the role

The people of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are united by a singular mission: ending cancer for life. Our specialized care teams provide personalized, compassionate, expert care to patients of all ages. Informed by basic research done at our Sloan Kettering Institute, scientists across MSK collaborate to conduct innovative translational and clinical research that is driving a revolution in our understanding of cancer as a disease and improving the ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat it. MSK is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians, who go on to pursue our mission at MSK and around the globe. Exciting opportunity at MSK: Join our Integrated Genomics Operation team as a Research Assistant! The Integrated Genomics Operation (IGO) enables basic, clinical and translational research projects across the Cancer Center. IGO implements the MSK mission to cure cancer by providing a broad range of genomic services and expertise to our world-class research scientists. We are a high throughput core facility producing >100TB of data per year across >40 applications including “fourth generation” of genomics technologies such as single cell and spatial transcriptomics. The IGO “Seq Team” provides cutting-edge sequencing chemistries to MSK investigators, from Illumina, Oxford Nanopore and Element Biosciences. We seek an experienced bench scientist who is enthusiastic about mastering a wide range of sequencing applications. The candidate will learn all the nuances of assessing library quality and quantity, learn how to combine different types of samples on to a flowcell and assess sequencing data quality. IGO has a strong team-based culture and as such, the candidate will interface with many other teams within the lab. Prior experience with sequencing is welcome but not required, in-depth training will be provided regardless! Reporting to the Manager, Core Facilities. Location: Schwartz Building, 1250 1st Ave, NYC.

Responsibilities

• Operate short-read (Illumina, Element) and long-read (Oxford Nanopore) sequencers.
• Assist the group leader in planning sequencing runs.
• Execute QC and pooling processes for sequencing libraries.
• Evaluate QC results and troubleshoot as required.
• Manage sequencing reagent inventory in collaboration with lab management.
• Maintain documentation in the IGO Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).
• Communicate with scientists and vendor technical support and sales representatives.
• Collaborate across IGO teams to ensure smooth sample processing and data transfer.
• Learn to operate liquid handlers and robotic instrument for high‑throughput workflows.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 4 years of relevant experience or Master’s degree with 2 years of experience.
• Strong foundation in molecular biology.
• Genomics experience is a