Scientist, Cell-Based & Functional Assays

Job description

Adaptyv is building an automated lab that lets AI agents run biology experiments. We're entering the era of agentic science where AI models can now design novel proteins, propose hypotheses, and iterate on experimental results. But they can't run the experiments themselves - that's still a manual, months-long process. We're building the infrastructure that gives AI agents access to the physical world. We are one of the fastest growing biotech companies, trusted by leading biopharmas, frontier AI labs, and the techbio companies pushing the field forward. This is a rare chance to help advance some of the most important work happening in biotech today. Our automated lab is powered by a deep software + hardware stack: lab instruments worth millions of USD reverse-engineered into API-controllable hardware, dozens of devices orchestrated through complex workflows, full observability on everything that happens in the lab, processing pipelines for messy physical-world data, and AI systems that troubleshoot production results and accelerate assay development. We’re growing rapidly and are hiring for talented people to scale and support the massive demand for AI-driven wet lab experimentation. ABOUT THE ROLE You'll build out cell-based and functional assays at Adaptyv — the work that proves an antibody or protein actually does something: activates or blocks a receptor, triggers signaling, kills a cell, or modulates an immune response. Cell activation assays, reporter systems, potency assays, and antibody functional readouts are the heart of this role. This is the most interdisciplinary of our scientist roles. A new functional assay starts as bespoke science and has to become a reliable, automated product. You'll design and run the assays hands-on with the biology team, work with lab automation to make them robust and high-throughput, and work with the software team to capture, model, and interpret the data — turning messy cell-based readouts into clean, comparable results. You'll guide and lead, but the value is in setting up real, working assays, not in managing. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Develop, qualify, and run cell-based functional assays hands-on: cell activation and signaling, reporter-gene assays, potency assays, and antibody functional readouts (e.g. agonism/antagonism, ADCC/CDC-type functional effects, T-cell activation, cytokine readouts). - Turn bespoke functional assays into productized, orderable capabilities with defined, reproducible performance. - Work with the biology team to integrate assays into production workflows, and with lab automation to scale them onto automated systems. - Partner with the software team to structure and model functional data — dose-response, potency, normalization — and make it interpretable and comparable across runs. - Own assay robustness: controls, reference standards, troubleshooting, and the quality bar for what we report. - Advise customers and internal teams on assay design and what the functional data means. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Deep, hands-on experience developing cell-based and functional/potency assays — reporter cell lines, primary cells, flow cytometry, and the realities of making cell assays reproducible. - Applied industry experience. You've built and run these assays in a production, development, or commercial setting where throughput and reliability mattered — not primarily in an academic research project. This is the core requirement. - Strong on antibody / protein function — you understand mechanism well enough to design the right assay for the question. - Builder who moves fast. You like standing up new assay capabilities and productizing them. - Genuinely interdisciplinary. You're energized by working across biology, automation, and software, and you treat data modeling and automation as part of the assay, not an afterthought. - Data fluency (scripting, analyzing dose-response and potency data) is a strong plus. DETAILS - Location: Lausanne, Switzerland (on-site) - Type: Full time - Start date: ASAP Application deadline We are reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.