The Staff Scientist will lead complex assay development projects, define technical requirements, troubleshoot issues, and collaborate with teams to ensure high-quality, effective methodologies.
Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care.
We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges.
GRAIL is headquartered in the bay area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies.
For more information, please visit grail.com
GRAIL is seeking a Development Staff Scientist for the R&D lab at our Menlo Park headquarters. This Staff Scientist position will be a critical part of the Development team's technical leadership, providing management support to the Director level to drive planning and execution within the team on new projects. This position is highly cross functional, requiring a high degree of organizational skills, attention to details and excellent communication for cross functional collaboration.
This position works on-site full-time at our office located in Menlo Park, California. Beginning in Fall 2026, this position will work at our new headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.
Responsibilities:
- Work closely with the team of Scientists/Associate Scientists in the Development team to define projects and drive results
- Be responsible for cross functional leadership of projects with high complexity, requiring detailed planning and execution
- Translate product needs into technical requirements to define project scope, team and timeline
- Lead technical troubleshooting
- Liaison with cross functional stakeholders to come to decisions and provide solutions for team execution as needed
- Perform deep and detailed technical review of data to identify trends and issues that need further investigation and testing
- Propose new ideas to improve methodologies in the lab, being either new/continuous development, application of new technologies, modification of quality control methods
- Define plans to validate assay performance aligned with CLSI guidelines
- Become an expert in our current assay performance, with deep understanding of quality metrics and analytical performance to inform improvements and continued development
- Develop test protocols, reports and any other technical documents that are clear, direct and complete
- Work closely with Quality, Regulatory and technical writers to perfect technical documentation; iterate new versions to incorporate cross functional feedback
- Understand and address needs from the Regulatory and Quality teams for successful regulatory filings
- Provide formal management of team members, as needed
- Support on new team member hiring and onboarding, as needed
- Assist with training of new laboratory personnel and training of new procedures with existing personnel
- These responsibilities summarize the role’s primary responsibilities and are not an exhaustive list. They may change at the company’s discretion.
Required Qualifications:
- Ph.D. or equivalent in Molecular Biology or other relevant field
- At least 8 years of related experience in a laboratory with high-complexity molecular assays
- Expertise in understanding and handling high dimensional datasets generated from sequencing technologies
- Former experience working with automated platforms is required
- Proficient in data analysis using R, JMP or other coding languages
- Proficient in Google Suite and Microsoft office (text editor, spreadsheets and slides)
Preferred Qualifications:
- Former experience with methylation and cfDNA assays is a plus
- Experience with the development and implementation of clinical laboratory tests under CAP/CLIA or IVD/FDA/regulated environments is a plus
Physical Demands and Work Environment
- Hours and days may vary depending on operational needs.
- Working with dry ice may be necessary.
- Standing or sitting for long periods of time may be necessary.
- May be exposed to hazardous materials, blood specimens and instruments with moving parts, heating or freezing elements, and high speed centrifugation.
- Repetitive manual pipetting may be necessary.
- Some lifting (up to 25 pounds) may be necessary
The expected, full-time, annual base pay scale for this position is $152,000 - $190,000 . Actual base pay will consider skills, experience, and location.
This role may be eligible for other forms of compensation, including an annual bonus and/or incentives, subject to the terms of the applicable plans and Company discretion. This range reflects a good-faith estimate of the range that the Company reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire; the actual compensation offered may vary depending on factors such as the candidate’s qualifications. Employees in this role are also eligible for GRAIL’s comprehensive and competitive benefits package, offered in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. This package currently includes flexible time-off or vacation; a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match; medical, dental, and vision coverage; and carefully selected mindfulness programs.
GRAIL is an equal employment opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a workplace where every individual can thrive, contribute, and grow. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, , or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws. Additionally, GRAIL will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in a manner consistent with applicable law and provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please contact us at [email protected] if you require an accommodation to apply for an open position.
GRAIL maintains a drug-free workplace. We welcome job-seekers from all backgrounds to join us!
Top Skills
Google Suite
Jmp
MS Office
Molecular Biology
Next-Generation Sequencing
R
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