---
title: 'Research Associate, Cell Line Development at Prolific Machines'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-associate-cell-line-development-prolific-machines-emeryville-cc3dkn5hxe8t'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Research Associate, Cell Line Development at Prolific Machines

- **Company:** Prolific Machines
- **Location:** Emeryville, CA
- **Compensation:** $70k–$100k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines/def510a0-1cf3-4107-92c5-bae85c342c77

## Job description

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind optogenetic platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology enables dynamic, tunable control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, and reproducibility advantages across the most complex pharmaceuticals and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

We are seeking a skilled Research Associate to join our Cell Line Development team, contributing technically and scientifically to the advancement of multiple projects while bringing innovation and new perspectives to our workflows. This role will be based on-site in Emeryville, CA and will report to a Principal Scientist of the Cell Line Development department.

Responsibilities:

- Contribute to the maintenance of an internal cell line bank, including banking of new cell lines and ensuring the quality of cell lines for Research purposes.
- Develop and engineer new cell lines;
- Assessment and quantification of target antigen expression.
- Design and perform cell-based and protein analysis assays.
- Contribute to improvement of processes and techniques.
- Analysis and interpretation of data and presentation to internal stakeholders.
- Maintain a close collaboration with cross-functional project teams.
- Maintain accurate and timely up-to-date documentation (familiarity with ELNs).
- Update and optimize local guidelines / SOPs for the team.
- Routine maintenance of the Tissue Culture labs.

Requirements:

For this position, we are looking for a highly motivated individual bringing along:

- A Bachelor’s degree in Biology or equivalent with 2 or more years of experience.
- Previous experience in industry is a plus.
- Extensive hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture techniques.
- Careful and accurate working style, quality awareness.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, and Teams).
- Data analytic software, such as GraphPad Prism.

Specific cell line development experience that will help you to succeed in this role will be:

- Experience executing batch and fed-batch culture studies as part of cell line development and upstream process development activities.
- Experience with bench-scale bioreactor set-up and operation (mammalian culture).
- Familiarity with fully-automated instrumentation (FACS, Octet, Cell Printer, etc.) for the selection of high-producing clones used in antibody discovery and cell line development.
- Experience with basic molecular biology techniques (PCR, ligation cloning, gel electrophoresis, etc.).

This role requires on-site/in-person presence in the Emeryville office. Occasional weekend work may be required to support operational needs. This position summary is not intended to be all inclusive. An employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

About You: A successful candidate for this role will:

- Have a flexible and independent working attitude.
- Adapt successfully to changing situations and environments.
- Have a strong eagerness to learn.
- Have well-developed communication, teamwork, and organizational skills.
- Be proactive and drive to optimize workflows.

This is an individual contributor role within the Research Associate track. The position is best suited for candidates who excel in hands-on execution, instrumentation, and technical operations in a laboratory setting. Growth opportunities within this role are focused on deepening technical expertise, expanding instrument proficiency, and taking on increasing operational responsibility within the Cell Line Development function.

## About Prolific Machines

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Prolific Machines uses optogenetics—controlling gene expression with light—to dramatically improve the productivity, quality, and control of biologics manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, later-stage)
- **Headquarters**: Emeryville, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Deniz Kent (CEO), Max Huisman (CTO), and others (including Declan Jones, CIO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Biotechnology (Industrial Biomanufacturing, Synthetic Biology)
- **Target customers**: Biotech and pharmaceutical companies developing biologics (including complex, difficult-to-express molecules), and CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations).
- **Mission statement**: “To enable the next generation of biologic medicines by transforming how they are manufactured.” [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)

## Products & Services
- **enLIGHTtened BioManufacturing Platform**: An integrated system combining optogenetics-enabled cell lines, plug-and-play illumination hardware (compatible with standard bioreactors), AI-driven process optimization software, and advanced analytics. It offers dynamic, real-time control of protein expression to boost yields and product quality. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)
- **Preclinical Cell Line & Process Development Services**: Early-stage development services offered to pharma and biotech partners.
- **Platform Licensing**: Options for partners to license the technology for in-house or CDMO-based manufacturing.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available.
- **Total Funding**: $109M across multiple rounds (including a $42M Series A in September 2022, a $12M Seed round, and several earlier Convertible Notes). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
- **Estimated Annual Revenue**: ~$3.5M (based on third-party estimates). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
- **Notable Investors**: Includes a syndicate of over 12 investors in the Series A round, and a strong base of early backers.
- **Growth Signals**: Year-over-year headcount growth of +4.8% (reaching 54 employees). The company has expanded its team across the US, Ghana, France, and Denmark. Job postings for roles in engineering, operations, and analytical sciences indicate ongoing scaling. [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Secret sauce technology**: Prolific is the first company to industrialize optogenetics for biomanufacturing, bringing dynamic, real-time control of gene expression that is not possible with traditional engineering methods.
- **Plug-and-play integration**: The illumination system and cell lines are designed to fit into *existing* bioreactor infrastructure, lowering the barrier for adoption by CDMOs and pharma.
- **Full-stack solution**: Combines hardware, cell line engineering, AI/software for process optimization, and analytics—a rare integrated offering in the biologics manufacturing space.

## Strategic Focus
- **Productization and scaling**: Transitioning from a development-stage company to a commercial platform provider, with a focus on selling services and licenses to biotech and pharma partners.
- **Real-world manufacturing**: Emphasis on ensuring the technology works seamlessly in high-volume, regulated GMP environments.
- **Enabling complex biologics**: Targeting the most difficult-to-produce molecules (e.g., bispecific antibodies, fusion proteins) for which current manufacturing methods are bottlenecks.

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact mission**: Directly enabling the next generation of biologic medicines that are currently limited by manufacturing challenges.
- **Collaborative, transparent culture**: The company emphasizes “rigorously sharing, testing, and developing ideas as a group” and judging ideas on merit, not origin. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
- **Strong total rewards**:
    - Competitive cash compensation and generous equity packages.
    - Spot performance bonuses and retirement plan with company contribution.
    - Flexible PTO with healthy minimums.
    - Company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
    - Free team lunches every day and great snacks.
    - Career coaching and mental health support. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
- **Work model**: Roles listed on the careers page are currently **on-site** in Emeryville, California. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines)
- **Employee sentiment**: Strong ratings on LinkedIn (4.2/5 overall), with particularly high marks for Culture (5.0), Career (4.7), and Work-Life Balance (4.8). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)

## Sources
1. [prolific-machines.com - About Us](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)
2. [prolific-machines.com - Careers](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
3. [linkedin.com - Prolific Machines Company Profile](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
4. [jobs.lever.co - Prolific Machines Open Roles](https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines)
5. [prolific-machines.com - Meet the Team](https://www.prolific-machines.com/team)

## Other roles at Prolific Machines

- [Optical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/optical-engineer-prolific-machines-emeryville-5gxs6p1z1xg3) — Emeryville, CA
- [Technical Project Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-project-manager-prolific-machines-emeryville-3c2m9sjngke3) — Emeryville, CA
- [Analytical Scientist I](https://feeny.ai/job/analytical-scientist-i-prolific-machines-emeryville-05jab7fahh2b) — Emeryville, CA
- [Senior Software Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-platform-engineer-prolific-machines-emeryville-2xt4jbqk16bg) — Emeryville, CA