Scientist II - Sr. Scientist, CRISPR Specificity & Genomic Safety

About the Company

Profluent is an AI-first protein design company. Founded in 2022, we develop deep generative models to design and validate novel, functional proteins to revolutionize biomedicine.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead Profluent’s strategy for base editor specificity assessment, including CHANGE-Seq-BE and related biochemical and cell-based approaches
• Develop, optimize, and benchmark orthogonal methods to evaluate editing specificity for base editors and nucleases
• Design and execute studies to identify and validate potential off-target editing events using NGS-based workflows
• Generate high-quality datasets to inform editor engineering, candidate selection, and program development
• Collaborate cross-functionally with protein engineering, cell biology, bioinformatics, and automation teams
• Establish robust experimental processes and documentation to support reproducibility and regulatory-facing genomic safety packages
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior team members

Requirements

• PhD in molecular biology, genomics, genome editing, biochemistry, or a related field
• 2-4 years of relevant industry experience in genome editing specificity and genomic safety assessment
• Deep expertise in CRISPR-based genome editing systems, particularly base editors
• Hands-on experience with NGS-based workflows (e.g., CHANGE-seq, GUIDE-seq, SITE-seq, or targeted amplicon sequencing)
• Strong background in molecular biology, mammalian cell culture, and NGS library preparation
• Experience interpreting complex sequencing datasets in collaboration with bioinformatics teams
• Proven ability to manage complex projects and mentor junior scientists

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with therapeutic genome editing programs and IND-enabling studies
• Experience working with disease-relevant primary cells, iPSC-derived systems, or ex vivo edited cells
• Familiarity with ML-guided enzyme engineering campaigns
• Expertise in protein purification of genome editors for biochemical assays