Scientist, mRNA Downstream Purification
South San Francisco, CAJob$120–155K/yrPosted 1w agoStill listed 1w ago
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At a glance
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Job overview
NewLimit is seeking a Scientist to lead downstream process development for its mRNA Engineering team. The role focuses on designing, optimizing, and scaling purification processes for mRNA drug substance, spanning program development and platform engineering. It is a hands-on, lab-based position involving process development, technology transfer, CDMO manufacturing support, and collaboration across teams.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Benefits
Full job description
About NewLimit NewLimit is a biotechnology company working to radically extend human healthspan. We’re developing medicines to treat age-related diseases by reprogramming the epigenome, a new therapeutic mechanism to restore regenerative potential in aged and diseased cells. We leverage functional genomics, pooled perturbation screening, and machine learning models to unravel the biology of epigenetic aging and disease using experiments of unprecedented scale. Position We are seeking a Scientist to lead downstream process development for the mRNA Engineering team. In this role, you will design, optimize, and scale purification processes for mRNA drug substance. This is a hands-on, lab-based role that spans program process development and platform engineering. It is ideal for a scientist who enjoys solving purification challenges and scaling processes in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. What you'll do As a member of our team, you will: Develop downstream purification processes
- Design, execute, and analyze process development studies for mRNA purification
- Act as the downstream lead for CMC program teams
- Help design and implement automated downstream workflows for high-throughput purification of research-grade mRNA
- Support execution of research-grade mRNA production runs for discovery and preclinical studies, as needed
- Support process scale-up from bench to pilot scale, as needed
- Evaluate emerging purification technologies and chromatography resins
Support tech transfer and CDMO manufacturing
- Perform tech transfer of downstream processes to CDMOs
- Act as person in plant during CDMO manufacturing runs
- Support process troubleshooting and deviation investigations at CDMOs
Documentation and collaboration
- Maintain organized experimental records in Electronic Lab Notebooks
- Author development SOPs and technical development reports
- Present experiment results at team meetings
Requirements
- Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, chemical engineering, or a related field with 0–3 years of relevant industry experience, or an M.S. with 5+ years or B.S. with 7+ years of relevant industry experience
- Hands-on experience developing downstream purification processes for nucleic acids or other biologics
- Hands-on experience with tangential flow filtration (TFF)
- Experience operating ÄKTA chromatography systems
- Ability to independently design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments
- Ability to analyze and present complex data sets
- Strong technical writing skills
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
Nice to have
- Experience with traditional nucleic acid purification methods (e.g., desalting, precipitation, size-exclusion)
- Experience with plasmid DNA purification
- Experience with Design of Experiments (DoE) and statistical data analysis
- Experience implementing automated or high-throughput purification workflows
- Experience with process transfer to CDMOs
- General understanding of cGMP and phase-appropriate process development
- Familiarity with mRNA analytics such as HPLC, CGE, and dsRNA ELISA
Benefits NewLimit offers generous benefits to ensure our team can focus on our mission:
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid parental leave
- Industry-leading paid time off (PTO) — 20 days/year for all employees + holidays
- Meals and snacks on-site
Salary Range: $120,000-155,000*. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. NewLimit offers a competitive benefits package, which includes a 401k, healthcare coverage, and 20 days of PTO. Learn more at: https://www.newlimit.com/careers *This compensation and benefits information is based on Company's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.
How this job compares
Set against the 2,035 open Scientist jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 28, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$120–155K/yr
- California median$124–175K/yr269 salary ranges
- US median$103–160K/yr1,090 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $138K, is 8% below the California median midpoint ($150K) — in the middle half of Scientist salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 429 open Scientist jobs in California and 2,035 across the US. Under 1% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in California
- Genentech32 open
- Amgen26 open
- Cedars-Sinai19 open
- Experience
- Scientist postings that state a minimum ask for 3 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 2 to 7 years (1,452 postings).
- Education
- 1,212 of the 2,035 open Scientist jobs (60%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 28, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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