Senior NGS Scientist

Serna Bio is building the world’s first map of the druggable transcriptome, systematically opening up the universe of RNA biology to small molecule drug discovery. Using our Discovery Platform, we are tackling the classically intractable targets ranging from coding and non-coding RNA.

We are looking for a Senior Scientist to join our Stevenage-based R&D lab and contribute to our R&D efforts.

The Impact You’ll Make

In this role, you will lead the expansion of our in-house NGS work, accelerating our R&D capabilities.

Working with a small and nimble team, you will help establish novel methodologies, work with industry leaders, and rapidly scale your career as we grow the company. As an ambitious start-up we work at pace and with complexity so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to grow as a scientist and to expand your talents outside of your current comfort zone.

• Design, implement and carry out lab work focused on the development and optimisation of NGS pipelines to support current R&D and Translational Science projects.
• Independently work on sample processing, library preparation workflows (e.g.RNA-seq) and Sequencing, and develop novel methodologies.
• Collaborate on strategy for our drug discovery R&D progression.
• Help us grow by balancing and juggling a range of priorities in a rapidly evolving environment.
• Deliver on cross functional projects directly with the CSO and Head of R&D

The Team You’ll Join

You will be a key member of our growing UK labs in Stevenage, contributing to our vital Next Generation Sequencing work.

The Experience You’ll Need

Technical Requirements

• Minimum MSc with at least 5 years’ experience in a biotech/CRO working with NGS library prep methods
• Extensive experience with library preparation for next generation sequencing and optimising novel next-generation sequencing assays
• Extensive experience with basic molecular biology techniques (cell culture, RNA/DNA extraction, qPCR, molecular cloning)
• Practical experience of NGS technologies, platforms, and applications,
• Experience applying chemical probing methods (such as SHAPE-MaP, DMS-MaP, and M2-seq) would be beneficial.

Interpersonal skills

• Enjoy the details: take pride in having well written lab notebooks and detailed experimental plans before beginning experiments.
• Excellent time and project management, communication and team working skills
• Ability to work to in complexity, manage different projects and deliver to defined timelines
• Excellent project management skills
• Previous experience in working in a small - fast paced environment
• Highly organised, with demonstrated experience in lab management tasks such as SOP writing, inventory management
• A strong sense of urgency
• Excellent communication skills - able to present findings in writing whilst working collaboratively within the organization
• Comfortable with juggling activities and can (re)prioritize effectively

The Values You’ll Share

• We are unapologetically unrealistic: We are unapologetic that our expectations for delivery are extraordinarily high. There is urgency to our existence: our ambition grounded in relentless execution of well designed experiments.
• We are data-driven: Data trumps opinions.
• We are humble: We understand the limitations of our knowledge and seek to learn from others to minimize them.
• We are curious: Learning from the diverse perspectives of our fellow teammates, and from failure, is an essential part of how we make progress. At Serna Bio, we celebrate failure, mistakes, and the ability to learn from them.
• We are one company: We operate with a ‘company first, team second’ mentality. Our success comes from working as one interdisciplinary organization.

What We Offer

• The opportunity to accelerate your career. You will have the opportunity to grow your career as we grow our labs.
• The opportunity to make a difference. Your work will have a direct impact on the experiments we run, and will influence our programs destined for the clinic to affect patient outcomes.
• A place to explore the range of your interests. We pride ourselves in an environment that cultivates curiosity, creativity and autonomy. At Serna the “why” of things is always the most important question.
• An environment designed to broaden your perspectives. We care deeply about inclusive working practices and diverse teams. Diversity is integral to our success, and an inclusive environment allows the team to do their best work.