Assay Integration Lead

What we are looking for in you

Glyphic is seeking an experienced scientist and team leader to serve as Senior Manager / Associate Director of Assay Integration. In this role, you will build and lead a team of scientists working at the intersection of assay development, reagent and control strategy, and automation. Together, you will translate experimental workflows from early-stage concepts into the robust, reproducible, and scalable processes that power our single-molecule proteome sequencing platform.

Reporting to the Director of Assay Development, you will bring both deep hands-on technical expertise and the leadership presence to set clear direction, develop talent, and deliver results across complex cross-functional programs. You will own the end-to-end assay integration process across the work cell, from defining reagent requirements and QC specifications to designing workflows, enabling throughput, and qualifying processes as the platform evolves. The ideal candidate has a demonstrated track record of taking assay workflows from prototype to platform-ready reality, and the management experience to build a team that does the same, systematically, at high quality, and with urgency.

This is a full-time, exempt, in-person position with work conducted at our Berkeley, CA location.

What you'll do

Team Leadership & Strategy

• Lead, develop, and grow a team of scientists responsible for assay integration and end-to-end workflow development; establish clear goals, foster professional growth, and build a culture of scientific rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Define team priorities, milestones, and resource needs in alignment with Glyphic's platform development roadmap; allocate team capacity and arbitrate trade-offs between competing experiments, integration runs, and instrument time.
• Serve as the organizational owner for assay integration, setting the standard for high-quality, platform-ready execution and ensuring the team delivers against it consistently; communicate progress, risks, and trade-offs proactively to senior leadership and cross-functional partners.
• Collaborate with assay research, chemistry, automation, and data science teams to deliver integrated, scalable solutions to complex technical challenges; represent the Assay Integration team as a peer leader in cross-functional forums.
• Develop and maintain end-to-end assay controls that enable QC, performance benchmarking, quantification of improvements from new reagents and workflow steps, and systematic identification of gaps.
• Own the full lifecycle of SOP development, maintenance, and versioning for the integration function.

Technical Oversight & Hands-on Contribution

Reagent Development & Control Strategy

• Oversee fit-for-purpose reagent development, ensuring all critical assay components are sufficiently robust to tolerate variability in assay conditions and environment without premature over-optimization.
• Define critical reagent parameters and establish guard-band operating zones that ensure performance reliability across the expected range of assay and environmental variability.
• Develop QC methods and acceptance specifications for assay reagents (including oligos, expanders, beads, solvents, and enzymes) and assess performance of instruments, substrates, and reagent systems.
• Build and maintain a control strategy with defined positive controls for assay performance and acceptance criteria for reagent lots.
• Establish SOPs for reagent preparation; systematically investigate lot-to-lot variability and failure modes; forecast and maintain reagent inventory to support integration-scale runs.
• Manage a team of scientists evaluating and qualifying assay components for integration into sample preparation, molecular expansion, and library preparation workflows.

Work Cell & End-to-End Workflow Integration

• Own the assay integration process across the work cell and end-to-end workflow, ensuring all steps are accounted for and gaps are proactively identified and resolved.
• Define assay requirements for the work cell, including deck layout, reagent and consumable needs, and operating parameters, and be sufficiently hands-on to translate those requirements into physically and operationally sound configurations.
• Integrate upstream sample preparation workflows into the expansion assay; validate end-to-end compatibility, yield, and contaminant carryover; ensure a consistent and timely supply of samples for ongoing assay evaluation.
• Oversee the integration of workflow steps to establish operating bounds, critical assay parameters, and reproducibility standards for new protocols.
• Qualify assay workflows following changes to deck layout, environment, or hardware.
• Lead root-cause analysis on failed or off-spec integration runs; implement permanent corrective actions and translate findings into durable process improvements.
• Develop and maintain specialized assay environments required for sensitive single-molecule chemistry, implementing appropriate physical and chemical controls to ensure reaction integrity and reproducibility.

Automation Partnership & Throughput Enablement

• Partner with the Automation team to define workflow requirements, identify throughput bottlenecks, and design solutions that increase end-to-end assay capacity.
• Provide technical guidance to support the implementation and refinement of automated liquid-handling protocols; validate assay workflows on the work cell and Hamilton-based platforms.
• Contribute to throughput modeling and debottlenecking efforts by translating assay constraints and work cell requirements into clear, actionable design inputs for automation engineers.

Data Analysis & Documentation

• Analyze experimental data using statistical methods and process evaluation tools; synthesize results to identify trends and connect them to upstream process, platform, or environmental variables; communicate findings through formal reports and technical presentations.
• Prepare and maintain comprehensive protocols, SOPs, and experimental records to ensure reproducibility and preserve institutional knowledge.

What you need

Required:

• Advanced degree in Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering, or an equivalent field; 
• • PhD with 8+ or MS with 10+ years of relevant industry experience
  • 2+ years of direct people management or formal team leadership
• Proven track record of leading and developing R&D teams, setting direction, mentoring scientists at multiple levels, managing performance, and building a team culture that delivers.
• Deep background in assay development, including a clear history of advancing novel reagents, assays, and workflows from prototype through optimization and platform integration to a robust, repeatable state.
• Advanced technical expertise in assay integration across instruments and platforms, with direct experience working across diverse molecular substrates including proteins, nucleic acids, surface chemistries, and small molecules.
• Experience developing QC and control strategies for assay reagents and workflows.
• Background in integrating real biological samples into multi-step assay workflows that account for matrix variability and real-world conditions. 
• Practical experience working at the interface of assay and automation, including defining workflow requirements for liquid-handling platforms (e.g., Hamilton, ThermoFisher, Agilent) and qualifying automated protocols.
• Proficiency with analytical tools such as HPLC, LC-MS, or capillary electrophoresis.
• Familiarity with separation science (e.g., chromatography, electrophoresis, liquid-liquid phase separation).
• Solid foundation in next-generation sequencing, with a preference for nanopore or other long-read platforms.
• Ability to synthesize data across interconnected process, platform, and environmental parameters and identify meaningful trends; strong analytical judgment and attention to detail.
• Effective cross-functional collaborator, excelling in matrixed organizations and multidisciplinary teams; strong communicator from bench to executive level.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.

Nice to have:

• Familiarity with surface chemistry for flow cells or solid supports.
• Experience with bioconjugation methods (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins/peptides, surface coupling).
• Experience with nanopore platforms for sequencing or label-free detection.
• Familiarity with nanoLC-MS-based proteomic workflows and data analysis.
• Experience with single-cell or spatial proteomics and transcriptomics.
• Experience with single-molecule detection or single-molecule sequencing instrumentation.

We're looking for a teammate that:

• Navigates complex team dynamics, partnerships, and challenges with creativity and logic.
• Operates with adaptability, urgency, and flexibility in evolving environments, thriving in ambiguity.
• Drives work forward without needing to be asked, taking responsibility for outcomes rather than tasks.
• Treats obstacles as problems to be creatively solved, not reasons something can't be done.
• Applies sound judgment to the best available information, testing, learning, and iterating.
• Shares early and directly when assumptions change, results are unclear, or timelines are at risk.

What you can expect from this role

Work environment:

• Collaborative culture where your ideas and expertise are valued
• Direct impact on product development and company direction

Professional growth:

• Learn from a diverse team of world-class scientists and engineers
• Contribute to first-of-their kind technologies, high-impact publications, and patents
• Opportunities for advancement and expanding responsibilities as the organization scales

Compensation

Estimated Base Salary $149,650-$193,725

This is the pay range for this position that we reasonably expect to pay. Individual compensation is based on various factors including, experience, education, skillset, and geographic location. This range is for the SF Bay Area, California location and may be adjusted to the labor market in other geographic areas.