Senior Scientist, Production

Adaptyv is building an automated lab that lets AI agents run biology experiments. The company is one of the fastest growing biotech companies, trusted by leading biopharmas, frontier AI labs, and techbio companies. The automated lab combines a software and hardware stack, including lab instruments reverse-engineered into API-controllable hardware, orchestrated workflows, observability, processing pipelines for physical-world data, and AI systems that troubleshoot production results and accelerate assay development. This is not a lab technician position. The senior scientist owns assay quality, data QC and controls, and production troubleshooting across the experimental pipeline. The production team runs 150+ experiments per month across expression, BLI, SPR, thermostability, and enzyme activity. The role is a player-coach position. Location: Lausanne, Switzerland (on-site). Type: Full time. Start date: ASAP. The company is reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.

Responsibilities

Troubleshoot production failures across the full pipeline (construct design, expression system, media, sensor tips, sample prep, instrument issues); Develop and document SOPs for new assays and make R&D methods production-ready and executable by junior technicians; Mentor a growing production team by setting quality standards, reviewing data, training new hires, and encouraging early problem flagging; Work at the intersection of biology, automation, and QC, collaborating with researchers, laboratory technicians, automation engineers, and software teams on protocol optimization and LabOS protocol integration; Own the relationship between assay science and throughput by finding the right tradeoff between quality and scalability; Run experiments personally as a player-coach

Requirements

Deep hands-on expertise in protein production: expression (E. coli, mammalian, cell-free), purification (IMAC, SEC), and biophysical characterization (BLI and SPR at minimum); PhD in protein biochemistry, biophysics, or a relevant field; 3–5 years in a production or development role at a CRO, foundry, or high-throughput lab (academic postdocs count if the work was high-throughput and production-oriented); Experience with high-throughput workflows, including 96-well plates and liquid handlers; Mentorship mindset, with experience managing or training junior scientists; Troubleshooting instinct; Quality-obsessed but pragmatic; Bridge between R&D and production