Senior Scientist, RNA Delivery at Conception (Berkeley, CA)
Conception· Berkeley, CA·
Role details
Competitive Pay · Company Equity · Healthcare Benefits
Summary
The Senior Scientist will develop and optimize RNA delivery workflows for payload expression in mammalian cells to enhance Conception's differentiation platform. This role involves building robust, scalable delivery systems, optimizing formulation and chemistry, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to...
Job description
Experience level: PhD or equivalent industry experience.
About Conception
Conception is pioneering the future of reproductive biology by generating functional human eggs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our mission is to unlock new possibilities for fertility, reproductive health, and genetic diversity. We are building a world-class team at the intersection of stem cell biology, developmental biology, RNA biology, and synthetic biology to make this vision a reality.
The position
We are seeking a highly creative, rigorous, and hands-on Scientist with deep expertise in RNA delivery to help optimize and enhance Conception’s differentiation platform.
This position sits at the intersection of RNA biology, delivery technology, stem cell differentiation, and platform development. You will be responsible for building robust, scalable, and biologically effective delivery workflows that enable us to test and deploy programs across multiple differentiation contexts.
What you’ll do
- Develop RNA delivery workflows for payload expression in different cell types and culture set ups. Apply RNA delivery strategies to improve and accelerate Conception’s differentiation platform.
- Optimize RNA format, delivery chemistry and formulation, dose, timing, repeat delivery, expression, viability, and biological activity.
- Build assays to measure delivery efficiency, target expression, and differentiation outcomes. Support screening workflows for RNA constructs, genes of interest, delivery conditions, and combinatorial perturbations.
- Collaborate across differentiation, cell engineering, and computational teams.
REQUIRED
- PhD or equivalent experience in RNA Biology, Cell Biology, Stem Cell Biology, Bioengineering, Synthetic Biology, Developmental Biology, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience delivering RNA into mammalian cells in various formats.
- Experience with most up to date RNA delivery technologies (LNPs, ligand conjugates, exosomes, electroporation, etc.) and standard readouts such as flow cytometry, imaging, qPCR, reporter assays, or RNA-seq.
- Experience delivering RNA or nanoparticles into complex culture systems.
- Experience optimizing delivery parameters such as dose, formulation, timing, repeat dosing, expression duration, toxicity, and biological effect.
- Strong experimental design, troubleshooting, documentation, and data interpretation skills.
PREFERRED
- Experience with iPSCs, ESCs, primary cells, differentiating cells, or other difficult-to-transfect cell types.
- Experience using RNA-based differentiation approaches.
- Experience with different RNA format design, production, purification, characterization, or delivery.
- Experience with medium- or high-throughput screens, ORF libraries, combinatorial perturbations, or barcoded workflows.
- Familiarity with scRNA-seq or related single-cell approaches.
- Familiarity with developmental biology, reproductive biology, germ cell development, ovarian biology, or organoid systems.
Come and work with us
We are well funded and well connected in Silicon Valley. We offer competitive pay, company equity, and excellent healthcare benefits for these positions.
To learn more about the original mouse proof of concept to live birth that inspired us, see nature.com/nature20104
Why work at Conception
- Mission-Driven: Employees work on "one of the most ambitious problems in biology" — creating functional egg cells from stem cells, with the potential to reshape human reproduction and help millions of people.
- World-Class Team: Join a team of scientists and engineers from top institutions (UC Berkeley, Illumina, UPSIDE Foods, etc.) solving hard problems in stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and computation.
- Growth Trajectory: Rapidly growing startup (42 employees, +17% YoY) with significant funding and a clear, ambitious roadmap.
- Work Environment: On-site in Berkeley, California (Berkeley, CA 94710). The culture emphasizes "work that outlasts a career" — tackling a long-term, fundamental challenge.
- Notable Perks: Not explicitly listed, but the company offers roles across scientist, senior scientist, associate scientist, and operations levels, indicating a collaborative, hands-on lab environment.