Staff Scientist Assay Development # 4466

GRAIL•Menlo Park, CA

20h•$152,000 - $190,000•Onsite

About The Position

Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care. We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicineâs greatest challenges. GRAIL is headquartered in the bay area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies. For more information, please visit grail.com GRAIL is seeking a Development Staff Scientist for the R&D lab at our Menlo Park headquarters. This Staff Scientist position will be a critical part of the Development team's technical leadership, providing management support to the Director level to drive planning and execution within the team on new projects. This position is highly cross functional, requiring a high degree of organizational skills, attention to details and excellent communication for cross functional collaboration. This position works on-site full-time at our office located in Menlo Park, California. Beginning in Fall 2026, this position will work at our new headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

Requirements

Ph.D. or equivalent in Molecular Biology or other relevant field
At least 8 years of related experience in a laboratory with high-complexity molecular assays
Expertise in understanding and handling high dimensional datasets generated from sequencing technologies
Former experience working with automated platforms is required
Proficient in data analysis using R, JMP or other coding languages
Proficient in Google Suite and Microsoft office (text editor, spreadsheets and slides)

Nice To Haves

Former experience with methylation and cfDNA assays is a plus
Experience with the development and implementation of clinical laboratory tests under CAP/CLIA or IVD/FDA/regulated environments is a plus

Responsibilities

Work closely with the team of Scientists/Associate Scientists in the Development team to define projects and drive results
Be responsible for cross functional leadership of projects with high complexity, requiring detailed planning and execution
Translate product needs into technical requirements to define project scope, team and timeline
Lead technical troubleshooting
Liaison with cross functional stakeholders to come to decisions and provide solutions for team execution as needed
Perform deep and detailed technical review of data to identify trends and issues that need further investigation and testing
Propose new ideas to improve methodologies in the lab, being either new/continuous development, application of new technologies, modification of quality control methods
Define plans to validate assay performance aligned with CLSI guidelines
Become an expert in our current assay performance, with deep understanding of quality metrics and analytical performance to inform improvements and continued development
Develop test protocols, reports and any other technical documents that are clear, direct and complete
Work closely with Quality, Regulatory and technical writers to perfect technical documentation; iterate new versions to incorporate cross functional feedback
Understand and address needs from the Regulatory and Quality teams for successful regulatory filings
Provide formal management of team members, as needed
Support on new team member hiring and onboarding, as needed
Assist with training of new laboratory personnel and training of new procedures with existing personnel