Scientist 1, Vector Engineering

Gordian Biotechnology is a therapeutics company designed as a machine that systematically reveals the right way to cure age-related diseases: a machine for creating time.

To do that, we built Mosaic Screening, which makes causal validation both grounded in human pathophysiology and radically more scalable in living diseased tissue. It lets us measure the causal effects of hundreds of perturbations directly in vivo, revealing the best therapeutic targets across vast target spaces (more details on our website and in our preprint). The machine is already producing wins: across six disease areas, we have mapped nearly as many targets as the field reported in 20 years, advanced a novel osteoarthritis candidate into IND-enabling studies, and started an obesity drug-discovery collaboration with Pfizer.

But there are still many diseases left to cure, and expanding the machine to tackle them starts with its most important resource: its people and culture. We work as a team, using clear goals, open communication, and direct feedback to make autonomous decisions with the bigger picture in mind. We aim for extraordinary outcomes, continually improving how we work and acting on what will create the most progress, even in unknown territory. We have deliberately designed an environment to sustain that standard: few standing meetings, hands-on experimentation and pre-mortems, weekly team lunches, and unlimited vacation that people are encouraged to use. You can dive deeper into our culture here.

This way of working has been crucial to Gordian’s success. And every Mosaic screen runs on AAV, which is where you come in.

You want a chance to do your best work, immerse yourself, and excel alongside people who will inspire you and whom you’ll be excited to spend your days with.

You want to play a key role in an early-stage startup: A fast-paced environment full of both uncertainty and new challenges, demanding relentless resourcefulness.

You want your science to shape decisions, not just generate data, and you can explain how this role fits your long-term plans and Gordian’s mission.

You thrive on ambiguous problems. Given a goal without a path, you build the plan, make a call with incomplete information, and adjust as the data come in. You also love the bench, and see hands-on execution as how great scientists stay sharp.

You have a PhD in molecular biology, cell biology, or a related field (or equivalent research experience), with an understanding of molecular and cell biology deep enough to explain your experimental choices and interpret your results.

You have strong mammalian cell culture skills, accurate pipetting, and reliable sample handling, and you have learned and independently executed non-trivial laboratory protocols.

You keep complete laboratory records and traceable data, with close attention to detail.

You have taken a defined scientific project from an agreed goal and plan through execution, troubleshooting, analysis, and a supported conclusion.

You design proper controls, use the literature to select methods, anticipate failure modes, distinguish a technical failure from a biological result, and can justify your next experiment.

You have handled multiple workflows or projects at once and communicated dependencies clearly to the people relying on you.

Prior AAV purification experience, especially iodixanol ultracentrifugation or FPLC, is a big plus. If you haven’t done these yet, don’t worry, we can teach you! We care more about your scientific judgment and ability to learn quickly than prior mastery of every AAV technique.

Bonus points for relevant wet-lab experience such as qPCR, Western blot, SDS-PAGE, and transfection; experience with FPLC, TFF, depth filtration, or related flow systems; and previous work with AAV, lentivirus, or gene therapy.

Gordian aims to provide everything you need to thrive. Beyond our community and science, you’ll have enough equity to be a true stakeholder in the company, competitive salary, full health/dental/vision/life insurance, 401k with match, onsite lunch paid for 3 days a week, an onsite gym, whatever vacation you need to be at your peak, remote work flexibility, and access to world-class mentors and advisors to support your professional growth. Our building is in the heart of the biotech capital of South San Francisco.