Senior Research Associate

Senior Research Associate, Pharmacology & Bioassays

Location: Vancouver, WA (Onsite)

Position: Full-Time, Senior Research Associate (Sr. RA)

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Senior Research Associate (Sr. RA) to join our Pharmacology & Bioassays team. The successful candidate will play a key role in advancing preclinical drug discovery by executing cell-based assays and cell line engineering for various therapeutic programs. 

This position involves hands-on benchwork and requires experience with primary cell culture, disease-relevant mechanistic assays, mechanisms of action (MoA) assays, and reporter cell-based assays. The role will focus on drug discovery, supporting mechanistic studies, and generating data to guide the progression of Absci’s biologics pipeline.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain and culture primary cell types, and run various in-vitro/ex-vivo assays contributing to the development of pharmacology work-packages.


• Contribute to design, development and hands-on execution of in-vitro and ex-vivo disease-relevant assays for MOA studies and therapeutic testing.


• Troubleshoot and refine assays, ensuring reproducibility and robustness in both medium- and high-throughput formats.


• Perform data analysis, interpret and present experimental data at various platforms.


• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including cellular screening to integrate data from cell-based assays and support drug discovery goals.


• Contribute to the preparation of SOPs, study protocols, and data presentations for regulatory and internal purposes.


• Ensure adherence to best practices in assay development, data management, and experimental execution.

Required Qualifications:

• BSc in Biology, Cell Biology, Immunology, Biotechnology, or related field with 5+ years of industry experience in cell-based assays and primary cell culture work, OR MSc with 3+ years of relevant industry experience.


• Hands-on experience in primary cell culture, including immune cells (PBMCs, T-cells, NK cells), cancer cell lines, and other disease-relevant models.


• Experience in mechanistic assays, such as MoA assays, ligand-binding assays, ADCC, CDC, ADCP, and cellular uptake assays.


• Experience in reporter cell-based assays, with the ability to develop and implement these assays.


• Experience with flow cytometry, ELISA, Western blot, qPCR, and multiplexing technologies.


• Proficiency in data analysis software such as GraphPad Prism, SoftMax Pro to interpret and visualize experimental results.


• Ability to troubleshoot assays, ensuring high-quality and reproducible data.


• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present data effectively to a variety of stakeholders and contribute to decision-making.


• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks and manage multiple projects simultaneously.


• Demonstrated success working in a matrixed, highly collaborative team environment, contributing to both individual and team goals.

How We Thrive Together: Absci’s Core  Values 

• We Believe in the Impossible


• We are one team with one finish line


• We embrace our differences


• We deliver Results


• We do the right thing


• Innovate because lives depend on it.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $88,000 - 100,000/year. The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary range for this job at the time of posting. Actual base salary pay will be based on a number of factors, including skills, competencies, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law

Absci offers highly competitive salaries and benefits, including medical, dental, vision insurance, unlimited vacation, parental leave, employee assistance program, voluntary life and disability insurance, annual bonus potential, and 401(k) with a generous company match.