Company/ Role Overview

We are seeking an ambitious and experienced cell biologist to join our neuroscience and iPSC team at Arctoris. a fast-growing drug discovery services company based on Milton Park in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.  The successful candidate will be a highly experienced, hands-on cell biologist with a strong track record of delivering complex biological projects in a commercial drug discovery setting. They will play a crucial role in all aspects of both our client-focused work and collaborative discovery and automation projects. 

Main Responsibilties

Experimental Design & Project Execution

• Plan, execute and lead internal and client research projects to an exceptional standard.
• Perform in vitro experiments and assays with precision and rigor.
• Maintain mammalian, iPSC and primary cell cultures across a variety of disease settings (e.g., neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular).
• Perform thorough data analysis, interpretation, and presentation of experiment results (including high-quality written reports).
• Maintain accurate and detailed documentation of all experimental work.
• Follow and refine standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure reproducibility and high-quality standards.

• Communicate effectively on scientific progress during project updates and client meetings.
• Provide accurate feasibility assessments of potential projects to assist the sales and project management teams.
• Work well within a team to optimise processes, teach others, and learn.

• Contribute to the evolution of our neuroscience service offering by identifying and validating new assays or disease models.
• Support the scoping of new neuroscience client projects, providing scientific insight into experimental design and feasibility.
• Stay at the forefront of the field, bringing emerging research methodologies into the Arctoris neuroscience portfolio.

Qualifications and Experience

Education & Industrial Background

• PhD in Neuroscience, Neurobiology, or related field.
• Ideally 2-5 years of post-PhD experience, predominantly in an industrial setting.
• Significant experience of working in a drug discovery environment.

• Strong experience in mammalian cell culture and complex cell models (ideally iPSC or other primary cell systems and/or 3D cell models).
• Expertise in neurodegenerative diseases and complementary advanced research techniques. 
• Extensive assay development expertise for drug screening including application of appropriate assay validation metrics
• Implementing, performing, and troubleshooting a broad range of cell-based assays (e.g., high content imaging, flow cytometry, ELISA, luminescence/fluorescence plate-reader assays, qPCR…).
• Advanced instrumentation or automation experience.
• Experience in setting up and/or running medium-to-high throughput screening (MTS-HTS) assays

• Experience handling small as well as large datasets, including data QC and statistical analysis.
• Proven ability to disseminate research results (e.g., in reports, presentations, and peer-reviewed journal publications).

Contact Info

Why join us?

Culture

• Dedicated, passionate and agile team who are constantly innovating and celebrating team successes
• Flexible and collaborative work culture with extensive development and progression opportunities
• Inclusion, diversity and belonging is core to our success.  We embrace everything unique and continue to be proud of our diverse, rich culture.  When you are at your best, we are at our best

• Highly competitive reward package
• Pension scheme, 4x life insurance and other benefits, including bike to work scheme
• Generous sick pay scheme and enhanced family-friendly policies
• Personalised health and well-being support
• A minimum of 28 days’ annual leave, together with generous flexible and remote working opportunities to ensure you have a great work/life balance
• Regular team events, fresh fruit and snacks and lots of opportunities to socialise and build great relationships