"Technical Associate I"

Technical Associate I

Job Number: 25429

Functional Area: Academic (non-faculty)

Department: Mechanical Engineering

School Area: Engineering

Pay Range: $50,000 - $63,000

Employment Type: Full-Time

Employment Category: Exempt

Visa Sponsorship Available: No

Posting Description

TECHNICAL ASSOCIATE I, Mechanical Engineering, will sustain day-to-day sterile culture and experimental workflows for human epithelial/stromal organoids. The position provides the dedicated hands-on capacity required to maintain quality control, documentation, and compliance for human-derived sample handling, while enabling consistent sample preparation for downstream profiling and ongoing collaborations. Responsibilities will include: Research Techniques and Protocols (70%) to establish and maintain human epithelial and stromal organoids under sterile, no-antibiotic conditions, assist in stem cell–epithelial co-culture experiments for modeling cell–cell and matrix–cell interactions, conduct growth factor, drug treatment, and CRISPR-based perturbation experiments, prepare and handle growth media, growth factors, and supplements as needed for the experimental protocol, and prepare samples for downstream molecular assays (RNA-seq, proteomics, or spatial-omics); Research and Document Production (10%): to present updates at lab meetings and contribute to manuscripts and proposals; and Data/Analysis (20%): to measure adhesive properties, zeta potential, pH, and cell response to external stresses; collaborate with the engineering team to link these measurements with device-based assays; and record, organize, and manage experiment metadata and results for computational analysis pipelines.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biomedical Engineering, or related field; a minimum of two years of specialized experience with qualitative data analysis, research methods, social sciences (which may include experience gained as an undergraduate); and proven skills in organoid or 3D culture and strong aseptic technique. Detail-oriented with excellent organizational and record-keeping skills. PREFERRED: Experience with co-culture systems, CRISPR/Cas9, or drug/growth factor assays; familiarity with fluorescent imaging and quantitative cellular assays (e.g., adhesion, viability, or zeta potential); and comfort working in an interdisciplinary environment that integrates biology, engineering, and computation.

The position is for one year, renewable for up to one additional year pending funding and satisfactory performance.