Graduate Trainee Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

• Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets,  accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
• Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

The Hsu Lab is seeking applications for a Scientist at the Arc Institute in Palo Alto, CA, focusing on the development and applications of novel genome engineering technologies. We recently discovered and developed Bridge Recombinases, which are naturally occurring RNA-guided DNA recombinases that can programmably insert, excise, and invert DNA (Nature, 2024 and Science, 2025). The candidate will drive the next phase of Bridge Recombinase evolution. Building on our work establishing IS110 and ISCro4 as programmable tools, you will lead efforts to engineer bridge RNAs and recombinases for megabase-scale genome modifications, therapeutic gene circuit integration, and scarless disease correction. You will tackle critical challenges in RNA structural design, protein evolution, and off-target minimization to bridge the gap between basic discovery and clinical application. To achieve this, you will work in collaboration with biochemists, structural biologists and computational scientists in the lab, with the ultimate goal of enabling therapeutic applications in human cells and aiding genome design.

About You

• You are driven by science. The world of science is filled with so many unanswered questions and the opportunity to address these questions brings you purpose. 
• You are a collaborator. You love working with people of different backgrounds and brainstorming ideas on how these questions can be addressed. 
• You are intellectually independent and self-motivated to push the boundaries of novel technologies.
• You are an optimizer. In research, there's always a race against the clock. You care deeply about making every step of the way as close to perfect as possible but also as quick and efficient as possible.
• You build tools. As much as you love answering specific scientific questions, you also love creating technology and platforms that are scalable and useful in many different scientific application areas.

In this position you will

• Lead one or multiple scientific projects in molecular technology development including planning, execution, analysis of experiments. 
• Collaborate closely with the PIs on planning and executing scientific research projects.
• Keep up-to-date on advances in the field by reading the literature and attending key conferences.
• Mentor Research Associates and/or work with graduate students and other scientists in the lab
• Develop and provide training to lab personnel as needed, develop standardized protocols for the labs.
• Publish preprints and journal articles; present findings at conferences

Job Requirements

• PhD in a relevant life sciences or engineering field
• Experience with different molecular biology assays and techniques, including high-throughput cloning strategies (e.g., Golden Gate, Gibson) and library generation
• Mammalian cell culture experience 
• Experience in protein engineering, directed evolution (e.g., PACE, DMS), or rational protein design 
• Prior experience in developing genome engineering technologies (CRISPR, recombinases, transposases, etc.) preferred
• Strong written and verbal communication skills 
• Experience and enthusiasm for mentoring research trainees, including graduate students and RAs
• The successful candidate will be an ambitious self-starter, an innovative and meticulous researcher, and enjoy working in a collaborative and fast-paced team environment

The base salary range for this position is $121,250 to $159,500. 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, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, 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.