Scientist Entrepreneur, Startup Creation
Berkeley, California
Open Search /
Full time /
On-site
A Bit About Us:
We are Arcadia Science. Arcadia is a science company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to transform evolutionary innovations into real-world solutions by openly developing more efficient, replicable, and sustainable ways to leverage the biology of diverse organisms. We expect scientists at Arcadia to openly publish their research in written form as clearly and expediently as possible to accelerate feedback and progress.
The Opportunity:
Arcadia is a combined platform company + start-up incubator. Arcadia’s translational start-up portfolio is focused on problems in therapeutics. We are seeking exceptional Scientist Entrepreneurs to join our incubator research team. They will carry out high-risk, early-stage in-house pilot projects that seed new companies. This work will be fast-paced and aimed at scientifically exploring new start-ups. We are particularly excited about individuals who want to help found and lead our promising efforts as new spin-out companies outside of Arcadia.
We start our incubation process at the pre-idea stage. We conduct all our de-risking and experimental development in-house, from conception to approximately the Series A stage. Our portfolio’s unique edge is our discovery platform, which includes computational and experimental tools for comparative organismal analyses across the tree of life. We use these tools to strategically pick organisms for our translational research directions. These efforts are highly supported by Arcadia’s research team and can help point towards biological innovations or models that provide new solutions in select therapeutic areas of focus.
Scientist Entrepreneurs will run rapid pilots on new ideas at the beginning of this process, with a heavy focus on computational approaches that leverage our platform tools. They will be expected to carry out a large volume of pilots with a team of other scientists (4–6 pilots/year or until a promising venture emerges) . They should be able to shrewdly identify key risks and optimize for “failing fast” so that they may pivot quickly between different scientific areas. They should have a founder-like, self-starter approach towards seeding new research directions or companies. Candidates must be capable of working independently on technical research projects, but should value working as part of a highly collaborative and scientifically diversified team.
At this time, we are looking for scientists with expertise in a few priority areas, including but not limited to: rare genetic disease, cell and tissue biology, and organismal physiology. While we hope to bring in technical expertise in these areas, the pace and nature of this work benefits from an overall nimble, generalist mindset that is typical of entrepreneurial founders. We strongly prefer candidates with prior start-up experience.
Within the first month, the Scientist Entrepreneur will:
- Work with the current research team toward existing pilot goals
- Contribute to collaborative ideation around new pilots
- Familiarize themselves with internal platform capabilities and disease focus areas
Within 3 months, the Scientist Entrepreneur will:
- Be able to pitch and independently lead research pilots
- Establish strategic go/no-go decision points for pilots
- Achieve baseline computational fluency required for effective collaborations (internal training is available)
- Quickly draft and publish iced pilots as needed (see here: research.arcadiascience.com)
Within the first year, the Scientist Entrepreneur will:
- Have completed at least 3 pilot cycles and/or helped launch a new start-up incubation team
- Have tested usefulness of our platform tools for start-up ideation and development
- Have expanded their understanding and skillset as a potential start-up founder (support and resources may be available)
We strongly prefer candidates with:
- PhD or equivalent experience in life sciences or related fields
- At least 1 year full-time experience in industry, preferably in the therapeutics space
- Direct experience (or demonstrable interest) in start-up creation
- Basic programming experience (Python or R and bash)
- Basic knowledge of GitHub
- Strong writing skills and project management skills
$125,000 - $175,000 a year
Successful applicants can expect to be compensated between $125,000-$175,000 with benefits and a highly competitive equity offering, depending on experience level. The position will require the individual to be on-site at our Berkeley, California headquarters.
Application Process:
**Please note that that we have Scientist roles open in both the Start-up creation and Discovery arms of the company. Please choose the role that is best aligned with your career development goals, and only apply to one.
This is an open search, and candidates will be reviewed on at least a monthly basis, but our next review will be on May 26th, 2024. Applicants who require an expedited review should send an email to ea@arcadiascience.com alongside their application to indicate this. For all applicants, send a resume and answer the questions found within the online portal.
Arcadia Science is an equal opportunity workplace; we welcome people from all backgrounds and communities. We provide competitive compensation and practical benefits to keep you happy and healthy so that you can do your best work.
Please note that an offer of employment from Arcadia is contingent upon the successful clearance of a reference and background check.
