Senior Research Associate 1 (Contract)

Company Description

Eikon Therapeutics is a new biopharmaceutical company employing revolutionary technology at the intersection of chemistry, engineering, computation, and biology to discover novel treatments for life-threatening diseases. Eikon’s discovery platform is built on groundbreaking innovations from its founders (Nobel Prize, 2014), culminating in the creation of microscopes which enable real time, molecular-resolution measurements of protein movement in living cells, thereby unlocking otherwise intractable classes of proteins as drug targets.

Position

Joining a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary team, the Senior Research Associate 1 will support and help advance Eikon’s small-molecule purification capabilities. The primary responsibility is to carry out high-throughput and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) purification of small molecules to support drug discovery. Working closely with the medicinal chemistry team, the role will also contribute to maintaining, optimizing, and expanding the analytical and purification workflows used across the drug-discovery process.

About You

You are a hands-on scientist with experience supporting medicinal chemists with their purification and analytical needs in a drug-discovery environment. You have a fundamental understanding of the principles of chromatography and of how analytical and preparative chromatographic instruments work. You are comfortable running mass-directed purification, particularly on Waters Autopurifier and Agilent mass-directed purification systems, and you can perform routine maintenance and basic troubleshooting to keep instruments running and minimize downtime. You can work with a range of instruments and techniques, such as HPLC-MS, SFC, preparative SFC, and mass-directed purification. You are detail-oriented and organized when managing large sample sets and their associated data, and you are curious to identify inefficiencies in a workflow and suggest practical improvements. You work well both independently and as part of a team.

What You’ll Do

• Perform high-throughput and SFC purification of small molecules to support the medicinal chemistry team at Eikon Therapeutics in Millbrae, CA.
• Run mass-directed purification using Waters Autopurifier and Agilent mass-directed purification systems, including fraction collection based on mass-spectrometry detection.
• Apply and adapt established chromatographic methods for the purification of small molecules, and assist in developing and optimizing new methods.
• Perform routine maintenance and basic troubleshooting of preparative and analytical instruments to keep them in good working condition and minimize downtime.
• Manage large numbers of samples and their associated data accurately, and document procedures, results, and observations to maintain reliable records.
• Compile, analyze, and present purification and analytical data to the team.
• Contribute to team efforts to improve process efficiency and expand the range of purification and analytical applications, from experimental design through implementation.
• Help monitor inventory of consumables and communicate needs for additional supplies or equipment so that work stays on schedule.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree with 2 years of experience, or Bachelor’s degree with 4 years of related experience, in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience purifying small molecules by reversed-phase HPLC and/or SFC, including fraction collection through mass-spectrometry-based detection.
• Familiarity with mass-directed purification, particularly using Waters Autopurifier and Agilent mass-directed purification systems.
• Fundamental understanding of the principles of chromatography and the working principles of chromatographic instruments, both analytical and preparative.
• Experience working in a high-throughput environment, managing large numbers of samples and the associated data.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills, including routine troubleshooting of instruments and data-management issues.
• Proficiency in designing and performing experiments, followed by data compilation and presentation.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Familiarity with laboratory automation or instrument-specific software is a plus.

At Eikon, employee compensation also includes bonus and equity compensation, in addition to several generous benefit programs, including:​

• 401k plan with company matching​
• Medical (premiums covered by Eikon at 95%), dental and vision insurance (premiums covered by Eikon at 100%)​
• Mental health and wellness benefits​
• Weeklong summer and winter holiday shutdowns​
• Generous paid time off and holiday policies​
• Life/AD&D Insurance (premiums covered by Eikon at 100%) and optional supplemental employee-paid life/AD&D policies ​
• Enhanced parental leave benefit​
• Daily subsidized lunch program when on-site​

The expected Hourly rate for this role is $48/Hour to $58/hour depending on skills, competency, and the market demand for your expertise.