Research Technician

About the role

The Bjorkman Lab in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering at Caltech is seeking a motivated individual to join as a Research Technician. The successful candidate will assist a multidisciplinary research team on one or more projects to study antibody response and immunization strategies as part of an effort to develop novel vaccines and antibody therapeutics against viral pathogens.

Responsibilities

• Molecular biology tasks, including cloning (PCR, gel electrophoresis, sequencing, and validating constructs, etc.) and plasmid preparation.
• Transfection and maintenance of mammalian and yeast cell lines.
• Protein purification (affinity and size-exclusion chromatography).
• Western blotting and SDS-PAGE.
• Bioconjugations of proteins, ELISAs, and other assays.
• Flow cytometry and/or cell sorting.
• General lab duties, including buffer and reagent prep.
• Maintaining records.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• BA or BS in Biology or related field, or an educational emphasis in Biology or Chemistry, required by date of hire.
• At least one year of hands-on wet lab experience in a biology or chemistry research laboratory.
• Must understand the basic workflow and operations of laboratory research processes.
• Must have good practical experience in all basic molecular biology techniques, especially the techniques related to the essential job duties.
• Experience with recombinant expression of proteins.
• Experience with purification of proteins (e.g., affinity, size exclusion, etc.).
• Mastery of buffer prep and calculations.
• Excellent organization and communication skills (oral and written).
• Ability to work in a team environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• A background in immunology, molecular biology, or structural biology.
• Flow cytometry experience.
• Experience working with yeast and/or phage display systems.
• BSL-2 experience.
• Transfection and maintenance of mammalian or yeast cell lines.

Pay

The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.

Schedule

As one of the largest employers in Pasadena, CA, Caltech is committed to providing comprehensive benefits to eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Our benefits package includes competitive compensation, health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans, generous paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, bereavement, etc.), tuition reimbursement, and more.