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Job Summary:As a Post\-Doctoral Research Scientist at Zymo Research, you will work to develop innovative RNA\-seq products from concept to completion advancing Zymo’s RNA analysis product portfolio. You will conceptualize, perform, and supervise laboratory experimental procedures in support of assay development and other related duties (e.g. business development, marketing, product development, and networking) as required.
As a Post\-Doctoral Research Scientist at Zymo Research you will have an opportunity to lead and/or work with a talented multidisciplinary team of scientists and researchers to develop tools that will affect and shape the biomedical industry. You will have an opportunity to innovate, develop, and deliver RNA\-seq technologies from platform development to clinical applications. As a Post\-Doctoral Research Scientist, you will contribute to Zymo’s strategic planning and continuously be encouraged to explore new ideas as a part of navigating and innovating in this highly competitive field. Zymo Research offers tremendous room for growth as we continuously explore new directions and expand.
Join us in making a meaningful impact!
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
- Develop and execute solutions to research problems; read scientific articles pertaining to RNA\-seq assay development; proceed with independent direction to organize and work out all techniques involved.
- Plan, assign, and direct the work of several Research Associates, advising them on problems which they are unable to solve.
- Contribute original ideas of major methodological significance to the prosecution of laboratory research.
- Take complete charge of the execution of major research projects over considerable periods of time.
- Exercise judgment, initiative, and resourcefulness in making decisions.
- Carry responsibility for laboratory management and supervision of Research Associates, Laboratory Assistants, and Interns.
- Frequent contributions of (a) original ideas of major importance in research (b) interpretation of data yielded by new/original method(s) used or developed in the course of laboratory aresearch
- Communicating effectively with research team, and manufacturing
- Meeting regularly with the research team to discuss project progress
- Ensuring that all research staff are informed about their project\-related duties and investigational agents. Execution of projects or major portions of research projects which have been broadly outlined by the CSO
- Engage in difficult and complex research projects in collaboration with Research Associates, making important original contributions pertaining to laboratory experimental procedures
- Engage in research and development to produce marketable products that product release may be maintained over a period of selling time
- Co\-author scientific journal articles may and level of innovational contribution publicly.
ENSURES PROJECT COMPLIANCE
- Possessing a thorough understanding of the requirements of each project
- Assessing overall project feasibility
- Not implementing any project deviation or changes without agreement by the CSO and prior review and approval by ZRC (except to eliminate immediate hazards to the subject)
ENSURES INITIAL AND ONGOING REVIEW
- Providing adequate information to initially review the study (i.e., projects, investigator's brochure, and any written information to be given to publications, or collateral material).
- Providing documents for ongoing review (i.e., amendments to the protocol, adverse events, deviations or new information)
- Securing CSO approval prior to initiating the study or instituting any changes to the project as approved.
- Providing written summaries of the trial status annually, or as requested
- Providing all documents subject to their review
DETERMINES ADEQUATE RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO CONDUCT THE STUDY
- Having adequate number of qualified staff to conduct the study
- Having adequate facilities to conduct the study
- Ensuring he/she has adequate time to conduct and supervise the study
ENSURES DOCUMENTATION OF PROJECT\-RELATED PROCEDURES, PROCESSES AND EVENTS
- Documenting deviations from the approved project
- Complying with written procedures to document changes to data and/or case report forms
- Maintaining project documents as required by the regulations
- Standardize new techniques and train other staff personnel and students in their use.
- Maintain complete hand written reports (lab notebooks) on all phases of laboratory and/or field experimental work involved in research projects adhering to the Zymo Research Notebook Policy
- Participating in monitoring visits and government and private industry audits as appropriate
- Making available to monitors, auditors, and regulatory authority(ies) all requested project\-related records
ENSURES THE PROPER USE AND STORAGE OF INVESTIGATIONAL AGENTS
- Being thoroughly familiar with the use and disposal of the chemicals, and reagents
- Assuming responsibility for the project and components investigational product at the lab site
- Ensuring the proper use and storage of the investigational product(s) at the lab site
MAINTAINS PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
- Attending educational workshops and seminars
- Reviewing and writing for professional publications
- Participating in professional societies and associations
- Make formal presentations to association, university, and professional groups
MARKETING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
- Responsible for conduct Beta\-Testing with potential customers.
- Responsible for writing the packaging instructions (protocol)
- Collaborate with marketing on content for marketing collateral, website, and packaging
- Collaborate with product strategy with the manufacturing department
Additional Responsibilities
- Supervisory: Research Associates
Education and Experience:* Strong background in NGS and molecular biology. Experience with assay development strongly preferred.
- Requires a Ph.D degree in molecular biology, biology, biochemistry, genetics, or related field from biomedical sciences with at least one first\-author publication in a high\-impact journal.
- Candidate should have good knowledge of both basic and the latest nucleic acid analysis methodologies, including PCR, qPCR, multiplex PCR, microarray and NGS
- RNA\-seq and NGS data analysis experience are plus
- Demonstrates well\-developed written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to establish highly functional relationships with diverse personalities, both within and outside the company. Open, customer\-focused style of communication.
- Must be a highly flexible, results oriented, independent and collaborative researcher who enjoys working in a fast\-paced dynamic environment.
- Experience with the development of bioinformatics methods, including analysis pipelines
About Us:
Since its inception in 1994, Zymo Research has been proudly serving the scientific community by providing innovative, reliable, and high\-quality research tools and products. Whether it's DNA, RNA, epigenetics, microbiomics, protein, or yeast\-based research, our philosophy remains the same: To provide the highest quality products in the industry while ensuring they are both simple to use and reliable in their performance.
Recognized as a *Top Workplace* by the Orange County Register in 2021, 2022, and named a *Top Workplace USA* in 2023, Zymo Research continues to be a vibrant community where employees thrive, feel connected, and are inspired by their work. If you are passionate about contributing to scientific advancement and want to be part of an exceptional team in a dynamic, growing company, we'd love to hear from you! Compensation, Benefits, and Perks:The estimated base compensation range for this position is $85,000\-100,000 at the time of posting. Actual compensation details will be provided in writing at the time of offer, if applicable, and is based on several factors we believe fairly and accurately impact compensation, including geographic location, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and other job permitted factors.
Zymo Research also offers competitive benefits and perks including:* Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance Coverages
- EAP Sessions
- Vacation Time plus Company Holidays
- Paid Sick Leave
- Generous 401(K) with matching
- Employee Referral Bonus
- Complimentary fruit, snacks, and beverages
- Complimentary catered lunches on Thursdays
- Complimentary EV Charging
Equal Employment Opportunity Employer:
Zymo Research welcomes candidates of all backgrounds. These include sex, age, color, race, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical \& mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, or any other protected status as defined by federal, state, or local law. Location:Onsite – Zymo Research HQ \- 17062 Murphy Ave, Irvine, CA 92614 Disclaimer: At Zymo, we take the integrity of our hiring process seriously. Please be aware of fraudulent recruitment activities that may use our name to deceive job seekers. We will never ask for payment, sensitive personal information, or financial details during the recruitment process.
All legitimate communications will come from an official Zymo or TriNet Hiring email address. If you are contacted by anyone claiming to represent us using a free email service (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or asking for payment, please treat this as fraudulent and report it immediately to [email protected]
Salary Context
This $85K-$100K range is in the lower quartile for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $183K across 83 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 3,708 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 3% of the market. At Zymo Research, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills in Demand for This Role
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 197 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $200,000. This role's midpoint ($92K) sits 58% below the category median. Disclosed range: $85K to $100K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($300,000) and Research Engineer ($280,000). By seniority level: Entry: $120,000; Mid: $200,000; Senior: $230,000; Director: $272,150; VP: $250,000.
Zymo Research AI Hiring
Zymo Research has 2 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Irvine, CA, US. Compensation range: $100K - $100K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 14% (508 positions) offer remote work, while 3,180 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,045 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (810 roles, $277,088 median); Los Angeles (397 roles, $215,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,708 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 102 entry-level, 1,705 mid-level, 1,469 senior, and 432 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (508 positions). The remaining 3,180 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($300,000 median, 21 roles); Research Engineer ($280,000 median, 147 roles); AI Architect ($254,798 median, 67 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,708 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,605), Data Scientist (310), AI Software Engineer (259). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (102) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,705) and senior (1,469) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 432 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 14% of all AI roles (508 positions), with 3,180 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $217,500. Top-quartile roles start at $272,100, and the 90th percentile reaches $325,000. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $300,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,890 postings), Aws (1,103 postings), Azure (877 postings), Rag (855 postings), Gcp (631 postings), Prompt Engineering (560 postings), Pytorch (545 postings), Claude (498 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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