Group Leader, Synthetic Biology

The Team

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York (CZ Biohub NY) (https://www.czbiohub.org/ny/) is an independent nonprofit research institute that brings together three powerhouse universities - Columbia University, The Rockefeller University, and Yale University - into a single collaborative technology and discovery engine. CZ Biohub NY itself supports some of the brightest, boldest engineers, data scientists, and biomedical researchers to investigate the fundamental mechanisms underlying disease and develop new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies. We are guided by our values of scholarly excellence; disruptive innovation; hands-on engineering/hacking/building; partnership and collaboration; open communication and respect; inclusiveness; and opportunity for all.

Our Vision

• We pursue large scientific challenges that cannot be pursued in conventional environments
• We enable individual investigators to pursue their riskiest and most innovative ideas
• The technologies developed at CZ Biohub facilitate research by scientists and clinicians at our home institutions and beyond

Diversity of thought, ideas, and perspectives are at the heart of CZ Biohub Network and enable disruptive innovation and scholarly excellence. We are committed to cultivating an organization where all colleagues feel inspired and know their work makes an important contribution.

The Opportunity

CZ Biohub NY is recruiting a distinguished scientist to serve as Group Leader, a role equivalent to Principal Investigator within the CZ Biohub Network, to lead the Synthetic Biology and Cell Engineering Lab. This individual will oversee the development of synthetic biology and engineering strategies to better understand natural immune cell function as well as design strategies to impart new functions onto immune cells. Such strategies would include, but are not limited to, the development of synthetic proteins–especially synthetic chimeric proteins–and/or de novo design or modification of genetic circuits, including at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and/or post-translational level. In addition, this individual will be contributing to the larger Biohub ecosystem and strategic scientific goals via collaborations with both intramural and extramural investigators.

As a Group/Platform leader you will have the opportunity to recruit and mentor world-class scientists to your lab, fostering an innovative and productive research environment focused on developing and leveraging novel synthetic biology approaches to help elucidate, modulate, and re-engineer the fundamental mechanisms that underly immune cell function. The ultimate goal is to reprogram the behavior of lymphoid lineage cells–such as T and B cells–and/or myeloid lineage cells–such as monocytes and macrophage–to reprogram their trafficking patterns to or away from specific organs, to sense and record specific physiologic or pathogenic signals, and, ultimately, to deliver potential therapeutic molecules at the site where pathologic behavior is detected. The ideal candidate for this position is a hands-on leader with extensive experience in designing, implementing and testing synthetic biology and engineering strategies and a proven track record of collaborative scientific research and innovation as supported by publications and intellectual property generation. This leader will bring a compelling, highly original strategic vision to the role, guiding the establishment of novel engineering strategies for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that contribute to the NY Biohub’s ambitious goals to cure a variety of human diseases over the next century.

For consideration, applicants should submit C.V., research statement, and 3 letters of recommendations.

What You'Ll Do

• Recruit, train and lead a team of highly skilled scientists
• Actively participate in an innovative, vigorous and collaborative research program, aligned with the missions of CZ Biohub NY, resulting in a compelling record of innovation and scientific publication
• Play a key role in our collaborative effort to understand the role of the immune system in healthy and diseased state and designing strategies to leverage the immune system for diagnosis and treatment
• Engage with colleagues throughout the Biohub Network to uphold our values of scholarly excellence, innovation, open communication, open science, hands-on collaboration, and partnership
• Communicate progress and results to colleagues and to the leadership team
• Publish and disseminate impactful findings and the products of your research as preprints (medRxiv, bioRxiv) and/or software repositories (e.g., GitHub)
• Collaborate with the CZ Biohub team to patent and license technologies resulting from your research that may help our ability to diagnose, prevent, and treat human disease

What You'Ll Bring

Essential –

• PhD in a life sciences or MD with relevant research experience
• A minimum of 4 years post-doctoral experience focused on synthetic biology and immune cell engineering
• Demonstrated publication track record in top tier journals on topics related to the scientific goals of this position
• Demonstrated leadership, track record of innovation, and ability to work collaboratively
• Supervisory or mentoring experience is a plus but not required for early-career applicants, but expected for more senior candidates
• Demonstrating a creative vision to establish a highly innovative and impactful research program.
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrated commitment to open science and highly aligned with the mission and values of CZ Biohub

Compensation

The New York City, NY base pay range for a new hire in this role is $145,000.00 - $176,000.00. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

Benefits For The Whole You

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice.
• Funding for select family-forming benefits.
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

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