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Wet Lab Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Actalent

Research Technician

San Diego, CA

$19 - $26.25/hr

Execute bench and wet lab experiments in support of preclinical research and medical device development. * Follow SOP-driven testing protocols with high accuracy and consistency to ensure reliable ...

BigHat

Principal, Machine Learning Scientist

San Mateo, CA · On-site

$254 - $290/hr

Our roboticized high-throughput wet-lab continually adds to our large proprietary datasets, which are piped through a custom LIMS++ data management and orchestration layer to automatically update and ...

Roche

Senior Bioinformatics Scientist

Pleasanton, CA · On-site

$167/hr

The successful candidate will collaborate closely with bioinformaticians, wet lab scientists, and external customers to design, implement, and maintain internal algorithms and tools for clinical ...

New

Pantera Capital

Research Scientist

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$140 - $220/hr

To support that modeling, we run an in-house wet lab that generates the experimental data used to calibrate, test, and validate the underlying physical models. Two things make this a particularly ...

Tabula

Research Scientist

San Francisco, CA · On-site

To support that modeling, we run an in-house wet lab that generates the experimental data used to calibrate, test, and validate the underlying physical models. Two things make this a particularly ...

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How much do wet lab jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 22, 2026, the average hourly pay for wet lab in California is $22.24, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $18.03 and $23.94 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a wet lab?

A Wet Lab job involves conducting experiments that require handling liquids, chemicals, biological samples, or other wet materials in a controlled lab environment. Wet lab scientists and technicians perform tasks such as sample preparation, chemical mixing, and data analysis to support research in fields like biology, chemistry, and medicine. These roles typically require knowledge of lab safety protocols, proper equipment usage, and scientific techniques.

What are the typical daily responsibilities in a wet lab position?

In a Wet Lab position, your daily tasks may include preparing and running experiments, analyzing samples using specialized equipment, maintaining and calibrating instruments, and accurately recording data in lab notebooks or digital systems. You will also be responsible for keeping the lab clean and organized, adhering to safety protocols, and properly storing chemicals and biological materials. Collaboration is common, as you may work with other lab technicians, scientists, or research teams to support ongoing projects. This hands-on role is ideal for those who enjoy problem-solving and actively contributing to exciting scientific advancements.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in a wet lab position?

To thrive in a Wet Lab role, you need a solid understanding of laboratory techniques, safety protocols, and scientific methodology, often supported by a degree in biology, chemistry, or a related field. Familiarity with instruments like pipettes, centrifuges, spectrophotometers, and lab management software is typically required, along with knowledge of compliance standards such as GLP or OSHA. Strong attention to detail, problem-solving ability, and effective communication are valuable soft skills for managing experiments and collaborating with teammates. These qualities are essential to ensure accurate results, maintain a safe and organized lab environment, and contribute effectively to research objectives.

What do you do in a wet lab?

A wet lab job involves conducting experiments and research using liquids, chemicals, and biological materials. Tasks often include preparing solutions, handling lab equipment, and following safety protocols to analyze samples and gather data in a controlled environment.

What are popular job titles related to Wet Lab jobs in California?

For Wet Lab jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Wet Lab jobs in California look for?

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Wet Lab jobs near you
Infographic showing various Wet Lab job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 2% As Needed, 80% Full Time, 8% Part Time, and 10% Contract. Highlights an 97% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $46,250 per year, or $22.2 per hour.

Principal, Machine Learning Scientist

BigHat Biosciences

San Mateo, CA

$254K - $290K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Posted 25 days ago

Job description

The role: We are seeking a creative, accomplished Principal Machine Learning Scientist to advance the state of the art in ML-driven therapeutic antibody design.

At BigHat Biosciences our full-stack antibody drug development platform uses ML to drive every stage from discovery to optimization. Our roboticized high-throughput wet-lab continually adds to our large proprietary datasets, which are piped through a custom LIMS++ data management and orchestration layer to automatically update and deploy the latest models. This makes the development of complex, next-gen therapeutics 'trivially parallelizable', at a pace which only accelerates as we develop better ML tooling.

You're not interested in just git-cloning the latest NeurIPS pub and swapping out the dataset. Motivated by an enthusiasm for the possibility of addressing unmet patient needs and a curiosity about the underlying biology, you'll apply your world-class ML skillset to refine and expand this state-of-the-art protein engineering platform. Success will mean not only hands-on methods development, but helping shape the direction for future ML research, and actively participating in the application of our platform to the accelerated design of new therapeutics.
  • Design and implement the next state-of-the-art generative models of antibody sequence and structure, and predictive models of antibody properties, trained on proprietary internal datasets of thousands to millions of antibodies.
  • Provide leadership, technical guidance, and mentorship to other ML and data science FTEs and interns.
  • Help set strategy for future ML research, driven by a strong high-level understanding of BigHat programs and operations as well as real-world drug development challenges.
  • Develop, refine, and deploy de novo design methods for generating initial hits to challenging, therapeutically interesting targets.
  • Develop multi-modality, multi-objective iterative protein sequence optimization approaches to lab-in-the-loop antibody design problems for validation and deployment in our high-throughput wet lab - at BigHat success is only declared upon synthesis of real antibodies with drug-like properties.
  • Maintain an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in ML-driven protein engineering, both in the literature and at BigHat.
  • Share your findings at top-tier conferences and publish in leading scientific journals to advance the field of protein engineering.
  • Provide ML expertise and support for ongoing therapeutics programs, directly contributing to the development of new drugs.
  • Collaborate with our engineering team to ensure maximal efficiency in the automated and agentic deployment of our latest models to our therapeutics programs.
  • Work closely with an interdisciplinary team of drug developers, wet lab scientists, automation specialists, data scientists, etc. to identify inefficiencies or potential improvements in BigHat's platform, and plan and prioritize ML methods development accordingly.
  • PhD in ML/CS or in the hard sciences with 5+ years experience post-graduation in developing and applying novel ML methods, and a strong quantitative background.
  • Publications in major ML conferences and/or leading journals, and an extensive demonstrable track record developing and applying novel ML in industry.
  • Strong competency in Python, familiarity with PyTorch, and experience with modern software engineering best practices.
  • Excellent communication skills, sufficient biomedical domain knowledge to interact effectively with diverse scientific teams.
  • Enjoys a fast-paced environment and excels at executing across multiple projects.
  • Familiarity with the current state-of-the-art in ML-driven protein engineering
  • Nice-to-haves include experience with de novo design, NGS data, Bayesian optimization, familiarity with antibody biology and drug development, and experience training and deploying models on AWS.
The salary estimated for this position is $254,000 - $290,000 + bonus + options + benefits. Compensation will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Actual compensation will be confirmed in writing at the time of the offer.
What BigHat Offers:
  • Range of health insurance plan options through Anthem and Kaiser (monthly credit if benefit waived)
  • Dental, and vision coverage through Guardian
  • Additional well-being benefits through Nayya, OneMedical, Wagmo, Rula, and more
  • 401(k) with company match 
  • DTO, two weeks of company-wide shutdown, and 12 company holidays
  • Paid parental leave

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