Molecular Laboratory Technician

The Opportunity

Virchow Medical is seeking molecular-biology-trained laboratory technicians in the San Diego area for flexible, part-time work processing clinical specimens. This opportunity may be particularly attractive to experienced technicians, graduate students, research associates, or laboratory professionals interested in supplemental work with an emerging precision-oncology company.

Assignments will be scheduled according to specimen volume and operational needs. Work must be performed onsite in the San Diego area and may occasionally involve short-notice availability.

Responsibilities

• Receive, accession, label, and track human clinical specimens.
• Perform nucleic acid purification using the Thermo Fisher Scientific KingFisherTM Apex Purification System.
• Quantify extracted DNA using a QubitTM fluorometer.
• Prepare reagents, buffers, consumables, tubes, and sample plates.
• Perform aliquoting, centrifugation, pipetting, sample transfers, and other molecular laboratory preparation steps.
• Store DNA, RNA, and other specimen materials under defined conditions.
• Maintain accurate chain-of-custody, sample-tracking, and laboratory records.
• Follow written standard operating procedures, quality-control requirements, and contamination-prevention practices.
• Clean and maintain work areas and laboratory equipment.
• Identify and document specimen discrepancies, equipment issues, and deviations from established procedures.
• Protect patient confidentiality and comply with applicable biosafety, HIPAA, and laboratory requirements.

This position is focused on specimen preparation and nucleic acid processing. It does not include independent diagnostic interpretation or reporting of patient test results.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or formal training in molecular biology, biotechnology, clinical laboratory science, biochemistry, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience with DNA or RNA extraction and purification.
• Strong micropipetting skills and experience handling low-volume biological samples.
• Experience using the KingFisher Apex or another automated magnetic-bead nucleic acid purification platform.
• Experience with Qubit DNA quantification or comparable fluorometric methods.
• Familiarity with clinical specimens, sample accessioning, chain of custody, and laboratory information or sample-tracking systems.
• Understanding of contamination control and unidirectional molecular-laboratory workflows.
• Ability to follow detailed procedures consistently and maintain complete, contemporaneous records.
• California laboratory licensure or certification appropriate to the assigned activities, if required.

Ideal Candidate

You are meticulous, dependable, comfortable working independently, and understand that the integrity of every downstream molecular result begins with careful specimen handling. You enjoy hands-on laboratory work, can accommodate variable sample volumes, and would welcome flexible assignments supporting better access to precision-oncology testing.

Virchow Medical, Inc. is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs without regard to legally protected characteristics.

Virchow Medical, Inc. makes specimen-recovery technologies that unlock molecular information left behind during needle biopsy procedures. Our Crow’s Nest® Biopsy Catchment® System is currently in clinical use at seven U.S. medical centers. Virchow Companion SpecimensTM generated by the system are stored in the Virchow VaultTM, enabling oncologists to order sequencing without relying solely on the adequacy of conventional tissue blocks.