Merge Labs
Scientist - Synthetic Biology
$120K–$165K
San Francisco Bay Area · On-site · Full-time · Posted Sep 5, 2026
- Education
- PhD in Synthetic Biology, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, or a related field, or equivalent experience leading research projects end-to-end.
About the job
Designs and optimizes mammalian genetic payloads and expression-control systems for brain-computer interface technologies, advancing promising designs from cell models to animal validation.
What you'll do
- Design and build multicomponent mammalian gene circuits and synthetic constructs to control expression, timing, cell-type specificity, and component stoichiometry.
- Develop scalable workflows and quantitatively characterize expression and function in mammalian cells and neurons.
- Translate lead payloads for viral or non-viral delivery and collaborate on in vivo evaluation.
What they ask for
- PhD in Synthetic Biology, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, or a related field, or equivalent experience leading research projects end-to-end.
- Strong record designing and experimentally validating mammalian gene circuits or tunable expression systems.
- Proficiency in molecular cloning, library construction, mammalian cell expression, and quantitative characterization.
- Experience establishing systematic or high-throughput construct-testing workflows.
Nice to have
- Experience with neuronal, iPSC-derived, or primary-cell models and in vivo translation.
- Experience designing payloads for viral or non-viral delivery technologies.
Pay
$120K – $165K USD base salary
Tools
flow cytometry, qPCR, sequencing, imaging
AI focus
The role develops genetic payloads and expression-control technologies for brain-computer interfaces that integrate with advanced AI; it does not describe developing AI systems.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative