Research Associate I/II, Platform

Required

• You're an early-career scientist who loves time at the bench and wants to build your career in cell therapy. You've worked hands-on with mammalian or primary immune cells and run flow cytometry, and you're comfortable following established protocols closely while keeping careful, organized records. On the Platform team, you'll put those skills to work running the cell culture, flow-based, and functional assays that test how well our targeted LNPs deliver CAR mRNA to T cells. You look closely at your data, notice when something doesn't look right, and raise it with your team. You adapt easily when priorities shift, communicate clearly, and are eager to take on more of the experimental design as your skills grow.
• Tessera employees are creative and collaborative problem solvers. They have a strong sense of integrity and unwavering commitment to scientific excellence.
• Meet your Manager:
• All inquiries regarding the posted position should be directed to the Talent Partner (see below). Interested individuals must apply directly to be considered for the opening.
• Florence Caro, Associate Director, Molecular Design & Screening
• Florence Caro is an Associate Director at Tessera Therapeutics, where she leads polypeptide engineering and screening for the CAR-T program. She sets the team’s scientific strategy and works with cross-functional partners to advance candidates toward in vivo studies.
• Florence joined Tessera in 2022 on the Platform team. There she built high-throughput screening assays for the domains of Tessera’s Rewriter polypeptide and worked with the ML/AI team to identify candidates that improve gene editing efficiency. She earned her PhD at UCSF in the DeRisi lab and completed a postdoc at Harvard Medical School in the Mekalanos lab. Her expertise spans molecular biology, genomics, cell biology, and microbiology.
• Florence is committed to helping early-career scientists build technical depth and independence. In this role, you’ll work closely with her and gain hands-on mentorship as you grow your own research skills.
• Meet your Talent Partner:
• Ben Hoogheem – Senior Director, Head of Benefits & Talent Acquisition
• Ben leads benefits and talent acquisition at Tessera Therapeutics. He shapes how the company attracts great people and supports them once they’re here.
• Ben started his career as an in vivo pharmacologist. That work gave him a lasting appreciation for the rigor, creativity, and collaboration behind scientific discovery, and it still shapes how he builds organizations where science can thrive.