Scientist - Omics Sampling & Perturbation

Becoming • Full-time • San Francisco, California, United States • 21h ago

Becoming is building Developmental Intelligence: the ability to externally sustain, measure, and perturb mammalian development in controlled systems and learn its governing rules through data and AI. Our platform depends on high-fidelity, longitudinal, and interventional biological measurements collected across time, perturbation, and lineage.

This role owns how molecular state is physically captured and perturbed in living developmental systems. You will execute and evolve wet-lab omics and perturbation workflows that make development measurable, causal, and model-ready.

What You’ll DoOmics Sampling & Wet-Lab Execution (Core)

Own hands-on sampling for multimodal omics experiments across developmental timepoints, perturbations, and conditions.
Perform cell, tissue, and organoid harvesting with protocols optimized to preserve transcriptional, epigenetic, metabolic, and lipid state.
Execute and optimize wet-lab workflows for:
- Transcriptomics: bulk RNA-seq, scRNA-seq / snRNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics
- Epigenomics: ATAC-seq (bulk and/or single-cell), CUT&Tag / CUT&RUN
- Metabolomics: targeted and/or untargeted metabolite extraction
- Lipidomics: lipid extraction and stabilization
- Protein & signaling readouts: targeted proteomics, secreted factors
- Hormonal panels: steroid and peptide hormones relevant to pregnancy
- Immune-focused assays: sampling for immune profiling where relevant
Prepare high-quality libraries and extracts, manage batching and indexing, and maintain full traceability from sample → data.

Perturbation Experiments (Perturb-seq & Related)

Design and execute controlled perturbation experiments (genetic, chemical, metabolic) coupled to single-cell readouts.
Perform Perturb-seq / pooled perturbation experiments, including guide delivery, perturbation timing, and integration with scRNA-seq or multiome assays.
Define perturbation dosage and timing to probe causal control points in developmental trajectories, not just endpoint phenotypes.

Metabolomics & Lipidomics Ownership

Design and execute rapid quenching, extraction, and storage protocols to preserve true metabolic and lipid state.
Optimize solvent systems, internal standards, and handling procedures.
Coordinate with internal or external mass-spectrometry platforms to ensure sample prep aligns with analytical requirements.
Own wet-lab QC for metabolomics and lipidomics samples.

Experimental Design & Timing

Work with developmental biology, perfusion, and hardware teams to define when and how samples must be taken to preserve biological signal.
Make real-time experimental decisions when tradeoffs arise (e.g. viability vs yield, temporal resolution vs destructiveness).
Optimize workflows for longitudinal and repeated sampling, not just static endpoints.

Sample Metadata, QC & Provenance

Own sample tracking, metadata, and provenance (timepoint, lineage, perturbation, replicate structure).
Perform wet-lab QC across modalities (viability, RNA integrity, extraction efficiency, batch effects).
Identify and troubleshoot failure modes early, before data reach downstream analysis.

Data Handoff & Cross-Functional Integration

Deliver clean, well-annotated samples and raw data to computational and modeling teams.
Provide biological context for interpreting QC failures or unexpected signals.
Collaborate closely with bioinformatics and ML teams to ensure experiments generate data usable for longitudinal and multimodal modeling.

Platform & Protocol Development

Standardize and improve omics and perturbation workflows across programs.
Help scale from exploratory experiments to repeatable, production-grade pipelines.
Evaluate new kits, chemistries, and methods as the platform evolves.

Required

PhD or MS with substantial wet-lab experience in molecular biology, developmental biology, stem cells, or related fields.
Hands-on experience with omics sample preparation, including transcriptomics and small-molecule extraction.
Strong intuition for how experimental handling and perturbation affect downstream biological signal.
Comfortable working with living systems under time pressure.
Highly organized with sample tracking and documentation.

Strong Plus

Experience with Perturb-seq, CROP-seq, or CRISPR-based pooled perturbation experiments.
Direct experience with metabolomics and/or lipidomics sample prep.
Experience with single-cell, spatial, or epigenomic assays.
Background in developmental biology, stem cells, organoids, or perfused systems.
Familiarity with basic downstream QC or analysis (without owning pipelines).
Experience interfacing with mass-spectrometry platforms.