--- title: 'Research Associate, Biobanking at Parallel Bio' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-associate-biobanking-parallel-bio-san-francisco-qk7fvtbs9w0w' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-06' --- # Research Associate, Biobanking at Parallel Bio - **Company:** Parallel Bio - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-03-13 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/parallel-bio/3ceab0ea-308b-4518-8939-3c011c624c5b ## Job description ## THE MISSION Drug discovery has a translation problem: more than 95% of drugs that succeed in animal models fail in humans. We're building the alternative: human-first drug discovery, powered by organoids and AI, running on real human biology from the very first experiment. Our platform is 87% concordant with clinical patient data - a vast improvement over the 3% translational success rate of animals. We’ve demonstrated the ability to model immunotoxicology, immunogen stimulation, and two autoimmune diseases with more on the way. Numerous pharma partners including 3 Fortune 500 companies are already using the platform. We've raised ~$30M from AIX Ventures, Marc Benioff, Jeff Dean, and Y Combinator. With the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 and the FDA's March 2026 validation framework, the regulatory tailwinds only continue to get stronger. The opportunity ahead of the company is generational: build the first scaled engine for generating real human biological data, and use it to fundamentally change how medicines are discovered. ## The Role We are looking for a meticulous and process-driven Biobanking Specialist to join our San Francisco team. In this role, you will be responsible for receiving, processing, and preserving irreplaceable human tissue samples that power our scientific programs. Every downstream experiment, every patient stratification insight, and every therapeutic program depends on the integrity and traceability of what you maintain. This is a 100% onsite role based at our San Francisco lab. You will be a foundational member of the biobanking function, ensuring that every donor sample is processed consistently, stored correctly, and captured with impeccable metadata. Donor samples are biologically unique and cannot be re-collected. A mislabeled specimen, a broken cold chain, or a documentation gap can permanently destroy material and compromise the scientific conclusions built on it. This role exists to ensure that never happens. ## Key Responsibilities Biobanking & Human Sample Processing - Maintain rigorous, real-time chain-of-custody records for all samples, derivatives, and associated donor metadata in LIMS/ELN systems, ensuring the link between specimen and donor is never broken. - Receive, log, and process human biological samples (e.g., whole blood, buffy coats, lymphoid tissues) following established biosafety and ethical guidelines. - Isolate primary immune cells and other relevant cell types using density gradient centrifugation, magnetic separation, and related methods. - Perform routine tissue and cell culture, including plating, media changes, and monitoring of culture quality. - Execute and optimize cryopreservation and thawing protocols to maintain cell viability and function. Biobank Operations & Infrastructure - Maintain an organized, fit-for-purpose biobanking workspace, including freezers, liquid nitrogen storage, and tissue culture facilities. - Monitor and manage inventory of samples, reagents, and consumables; coordinate ordering and restocking as needed. - Contribute to the development, documentation, and continuous improvement of SOPs for sample receipt, processing, storage, and retrieval. - Support equipment maintenance and calibration (e.g., biosafety cabinets, centrifuges, freezers) and proactively flag issues. Quality Control & Project Support - Ensure all incoming human tissue is accompanied by complete donor consent documentation; maintain awareness of applicable IRB protocols, HIPAA requirements, and material transfer agreements governing sample use and storage. - Perform basic QC on incoming and banked samples (e.g., cell counts, viability assays, simple flow cytometry panels where applicable). - Coordinate timing and logistics of clinical sample shipments, ensuring cold-chain integrity and proper documentation (e.g., consent forms, MTAs). - Work closely with discovery and platform teams to provide appropriately prepared samples for organoid culture and downstream assays. - Help troubleshoot sample- or workflow-related issues and propose practical improvements to enhance throughput and consistency. ## Qualifications - BS or MS in Biology, Immunology, Cell Biology, Biotechnology, or a related discipline. - At least 1 year of hands-on experience with human primary cell or tissue processing in an academic or industry lab. - Strong aseptic technique and routine experience with mammalian cell/tissue culture. - Familiarity with basic immunological or cell-based assays (e.g., viability staining, flow cytometry, ELISA) is preferred. - Experience using LIMS and/or ELN systems for structured sample and data tracking. - Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing a large and evolving biological inventory. - Ability to work independently at the bench while communicating clearly with colleagues and clinical partners. - Ability to pass respirator fit testing and comply with PPE requirements (per OSHA 29 CFR 1910.134), including maintaining facial hair compliant with a proper respirator seal. - Willingness to work onsite daily in San Francisco, with occasional weekend or off-hours work to process time-sensitive clinical samples. ## Why Parallel Bio Every organoid culture, every mechanistic readout, and every population-scale insight our platform generates begins with the quality and traceability of banked human tissue. As a Biobanking Specialist, you are not supporting the science from the sideline. You are building and protecting the foundation it depends on. Parallel Bio is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. ## About Parallel Bio ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Parallel Bio is a biotechnology company using a proprietary human immune organoid platform and AI to reimagine drug discovery, aiming to replace animal testing and predict human clinical outcomes from the start. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series A) - **Headquarters**: Watertown, Massachusetts, United States - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Robert DiFazio (Co-Founder & Co-CEO), Juliana Hilliard (Co-Founder & Co-CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Biotechnology, Drug Discovery - **Target customers**: B2B; Fortune 500 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seeking preclinical drug validation and discovery services. - **Mission or purpose**: To reimagine the entire drug discovery process from the ground up, creating a system that charts the map of human biology to go from disease target discovery to IND in a fraction of the time and cost, making drug development 10x faster and 1000x cheaper while eliminating animal testing. ## Products & Services - **Human Immune Organoid Platform**: The world’s first scalable human immune organoid designed to capture the human biology that animal models miss. It is a closed-loop, end-to-end automation system that generates compounding proprietary data on how therapies perform across diverse patient populations. - **Biological Atlas / Map of Human Biology**: A population-scale, perturbable, and fully human biological atlas built on data from a biobank of over 170 donors spanning different ages, sexes, ethnicities, and disease states. This platform enables disease target discovery, precision medicine, and patient stratification. - **Drug Discovery Services**: Partnering with pharmaceutical companies (including three Fortune 500 companies) to test compounds and predict clinical trial outcomes earlier and more reliably than existing preclinical models. Over 170 compounds have been tested to date. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available. - **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$25.75M** across 4 rounds. - **Recent Funding**: **$21.0M Series A** (July 2025) led by AIX Ventures with 8 investors. - **Revenue**: Estimated annual revenue of **$3.2M** (LinkedIn estimate). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: AIX Ventures (Lead, Series A), Refactor (Lead, Seed Round). Advisors include Darrell Irvine (Professor, Scripps Research), Shane Crotty (Professor & CSO, La Jolla Institute), and Nima Aghaeepour (Professor, Stanford). - **Growth Signals**: 17.4% headcount growth YoY; presence in Austria alongside US HQ; LinkedIn follower growth of 129.2% yearly; active hiring across science, technology, and operations departments. ## Competitive Advantages - **Human-first biology**: A platform built entirely on human data, not animal models, which captures population diversity that clinical trials often fail to achieve. - **Proprietary data flywheel**: The closed-loop automation system generates a massive, proprietary dataset of human biological data, creating a compounding advantage for AI model training and discovery. - **Speed and cost**: Claims 10x faster and 1000x cheaper drug discovery compared to traditional methods, with a focus on reducing the 97.3% failure rate of clinical trials. - **Zero animal testing**: A strong ethical and scientific differentiator, appealing to modern regulatory and societal standards. ## Strategic Focus - **Platform scaling**: Expanding the biobank and automation capabilities to generate more data and improve the biological atlas. - **Commercial partnerships**: Deepening collaborations with large pharmaceutical companies (including three Fortune 500) to validate and scale the platform. - **Precision medicine**: Using the map of human biology to unlock personalized insights and patient stratification. - **AI and data**: Building foundation models on the growing dataset to further accelerate drug discovery and prediction. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven work**: Directly tackling the $2.6 billion, 12.5-year problem of drug discovery and aiming to eliminate animal testing, offering a chance to have a massive impact on human health. - **Interdisciplinary team**: Brings together experts in immunotherapy, data science, bioengineering, and drug discovery, fostering a collaborative environment. - **Culture**: Described as "a diverse, interdisciplinary team of dreamers and doers" looking for "fellow visionaries hungry for real impact." - **Work policy**: Most roles are **on-site in San Francisco, CA** (6 of 7 open positions), with one remote role available. The HQ is in Watertown, MA. - **Growth trajectory**: With recent Series A funding, rapid follower growth, and active hiring across multiple departments (Science, Technology, Operations), the company is in an aggressive growth phase. - **Open roles (7 total)**: Head of Platform, Head of Biology, Head of Sales, Data Application Engineer, Research Associate (Biobanking), Scientist (HIV Virology), and a general talent network application. ## Sources 1. [parallel.bio](https://www.parallel.bio/) 2. [parallel.bio/about](https://www.parallel.bio/about) 3. [parallel.bio/careers](https://www.parallel.bio/careers) 4. [LinkedIn - Parallel Bio](https://www.linkedin.com/company/parallelbio) 5. [Ashby Jobs - Parallel Bio](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/parallel-bio) ## Other roles at Parallel Bio - [Head of Platform Bioengineering & Assay Development](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-platform-bioengineering-assay-development-parallel-bio-san-francisco-yk79vhdd3jxe) — San Francisco, CA - [Scientist, HIV Virology](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-hiv-virology-parallel-bio-san-francisco-gkf4d324wmzs) — San Francisco, CA - [Join Our Talent Network Here](https://feeny.ai/job/join-our-talent-network-here-parallel-bio-remote-wkn5dbekzpbj)