Contractor, Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture Operations

Your Impact at Lila

The Senior Research Associate, Cell Culture Operations will be responsible for the day-to-day execution and maintenance of mammalian cell culture activities that support LILA's research programs. This is a highly hands-on role focused on reliability, consistency, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate brings strong bench fundamentals, meticulous documentation habits, and the ability to support the translation of manual workflows into automation-compatible processes as LILA's capabilities evolve.

What You'll Be Building

• Perform routine and advanced mammalian cell culture (maintenance, expansion, passaging, cryopreservation, thawing) across a range of cell lines and cell types; monitor cell health and proactively resolve culture issues.
• Manage and maintain cell banks (inventory, quality checks, documentation) and oversee reagent/consumable procurement to ensure uninterrupted cell supply.
• Perform flow cytometry / FACS acquisition and data analysis to support cell characterization, quality checks, and downstream research needs.
• Author, maintain, and improve SOPs for cell culture workflows; identify opportunities to streamline operations and improve consistency.
• Support adoption of automated or semi-automated cell culture workflows, including protocol translation, run execution/troubleshooting, and performance verification.
• Coordinate with research and platform teams to align on cell supply needs, timelines, and specifications; support onboarding of new cell types and protocols as programs evolve.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe laboratory in accordance with biosafety guidelines (e.g., BSL-2).

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• B.S. or M.S. in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or related discipline.
• 3+ years (B.S.) or 2+ years (M.S.) of relevant experience with a strong focus on mammalian cell culture.
• Demonstrated expertise in aseptic technique, routine and advanced cell culture, cell banking, and culture troubleshooting.
• Hands-on experience with cell culture liquid handling techniques.
• Experience with flow cytometry / FACS acquisition and data analysis.

Bonus Points For

• Experience culturing primary human or animal cells (e.g., PBMCs, T cells, tissue-derived primary cells).
• Experience with iPSC culture and maintenance (e.g., feeder-free systems, passaging techniques, pluripotency monitoring).
• Experience with cell engineering approaches such as lentiviral vector (LVV) transduction or CRISPR-based editing.
• Familiarity with inventory/LIMS platforms.