About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:

• Funding: Arc will fully fund Core Investigator's (PI's) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.
• Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
• Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
• Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

With $650M in committed funding, the vision in the first 2-3 years is to grow to a team of roughly 150 team members, with plans for further significant growth over the decade ahead.

About the position
We are seeking an exceptional scientific leader and researcher to build and manage the Stem Cell Platform within the Cellular Models Technology Center at Arc. The Center will be internally funded and staffed by professional research scientists under industry-competitive pay scales, with the overall mission of deploying and advancing stem cell based and organoid technologies at scale to understand complex diseases.

One of the initial goals of the Stem Cell Platform will be to implement, optimize, and scale state-of-the-art human stem cell culture and modeling protocols, beginning with both 2D and 3D neural models that will be used to study neurodegenerative disorders. The Stem Cell Platform will collaborate closely with Core Laboratories, the broader Cellular Models Center team, and other Technology Centers (i.e. Genome Engineering, Multi-Omics) to convert cutting-edge method advances into reproducible and robust platform technologies for the Institute.

In this position, you will:

• Build and manage a fully funded Stem Cell Platform of 2-5 FTEs, with 2 FTEs expected the first year and gradual growth following internal demand expected in following years
• Actively train and manage research staff and develop them professionally and scientifically
• Your team will partner with Principal Investigators, other scientists inside the Cellular Models center, and other Technology Centers to advance research across the institute and create a culture of collaboration and excellence
• Your team will develop SOPs, resources, and efficient and standardized processes for human embryonic stem cell and iPSC differentiation and 3d tissue models in house (including differentiation protocols, disease modeling, and generation of cell populations/organoids suitable for screening) and provide support for them on projects across labs at the Institute
• Your team will scale up, optimize, and adapt innovative new technologies developed by the Cellular Models Center for implementation into Institute research projects
• Advise and train scientists from across the institute on advanced stem cell culturing and differentiation methods
• Increase efficiency and reproducibility of advanced culturing methods at the Stem Cell Platform, including the use of automation
• Serve as a subject matter expert in stem cell modeling and culture techniques.
• Attend and present at team meetings to share results, plan projects and experiments, and ensure that projects support team goals

Job Requirements:

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in a relevant field
• 8-10 years of relevant experience in industry and academic settings
• 3+ years previous managerial experience leading and growing scientific teams of 3+
• Experience with differentiating and culturing multiple cell types; differentiation and culturing of neuronal cell types would be an asset
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills is required for research presentations, SOP development, and publications
• The successful candidate will be an ambitious self-starter, be motivated to apply his/her skills to diverse projects and enjoy working in a fast-paced team environment.

The base salary range for this position is $147,000 to $214,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, internal equity, market conditions, education/training, and skill level, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.