Job Description
Job Description
Job Posting | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Part-time, weekends
Research Associate II, Microbiology
Part-time, hourly, 16 to 20 hours a week, primarily weekends
On-site at The Engine, Cambridge, Massachusetts
About HyperSpectral
HyperSpectral builds Physical AI for the molecular world. We pair spectral sensing, including Raman, hyperspectral imaging, NIR, and FTIR, with AI that reads the molecular fingerprints encoded in light. Our CortX runtime and Spectral Foundation Model (SFM) support work in clinical diagnostics research, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, food safety, and defense.
Our primary team location is The Engine in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with colleagues and partners around the country and the world. We are a multidisciplinary team: scientists, hardware engineers, machine learning engineers, clinicians and operators who have to understand each other to get anything done, so clear communication across skill sets is part of every job here. We scale through tooling and coordination, not headcount. Every hire works comfortably in a controlled, regulated environment, uses AI as a primary way of producing work, partners across functions and time zones without waiting for the next meeting, and is a self-starter, a collaborative team member and a strong communicator.
The role
Our microbiology laboratory at The Engine runs research studies on clinical specimens and organism collections, scanning strain panels on a weekly cadence that depends on cultures being ready the day before each scan day. This role keeps the week ready: the cultures prepared, the frozen stocks built and tracked, the media and reagents on hand, and every step recorded to the standard a regulated development program requires. Weekend hours are what let a three-day replicate cadence run inside one week.
The Research Associate II works under written procedures, primarily on weekends, and reports to the laboratory's Senior Scientist, who owns the protocols, sets priorities and signs off competency. The successful candidate demonstrates precision at the bench, maintains accurate and complete records, consistently fulfills scheduled commitments, and promptly reports deviations, unexpected results or other concerns.
What you will do
- Prepare and organize reference and working cryostocks; track strain identity, passage number, vial quantity and freezer location.
- Maintain cultures; prepare media and reagents; run the daily QC the SOP requires; prepare cultures and batched samples ahead of the week's scan days.
- Receive, accession, de-identify and log specimens and study samples in the sample tracking system; verify labeling and chain of custody at every hand-off.
- Process specimens to SOP: plating and streaking, incubation, colony isolation, Gram stain and basic identification, and preparation of spectral-ready samples.
- Support sample preparation for Raman spectroscopy experiments.
- Maintain laboratory inventory and monitor media, reagent and supply expiration dates; flag reorder points; receive and put away deliveries.
- Follow BSL-2 practices, aseptic technique, and the procedures for decontamination and waste disposal; keep the bench, the biosafety cabinet schedule and the shared space in inspection-ready order.
- Record every step in the laboratory notebook, batch record or sample tracking system at the time it is done; follow approved protocols exactly and raise any deviation, unexpected result or safety concern the same day, in writing.
- Work weekends under The Engine's after-hours procedures, checking in by the agreed method and knowing when to stop and call.
- Use AI-assisted tools for record keeping, reporting and procedure look-up as the laboratory adopts them.
What you bring
- Two or more years in a microbiology, clinical, molecular or research laboratory handling cultures or human specimens under BSL-2 practice; four or more preferred.
- Proficient aseptic technique, plating and streaking, colony isolation, Gram stain and basic identification methods; accurate pipetting, centrifugation and sample preparation; experience preparing and tracking frozen stocks.
- Strong attention to detail, organization and laboratory documentation; accurate record keeping to written procedures; comfortable with a sample tracking system or LIMS.
- Bachelor's degree in microbiology, biology, medical laboratory science or a related field, or an associate degree with MLT certification and equivalent experience.
- Able to work the weekend schedule reliably and on site, and comfortable in a regulated setting with documented procedures.
Helpful but not required: MLT(ASCP) or MLS(ASCP) certification; hospital or reference laboratory experience with blood cultures, sterile body fluids or respiratory specimens; experience in a CLIA laboratory or a regulated diagnostics development setting; current use of AI-assisted tools for documentation and reporting.
Schedule, pay and environment
- Part-time, hourly, nonexempt: 16 to 20 hours a week on a fixed schedule, primarily weekends, with occasional weekday hours by agreement; overtime paid if a week exceeds 40 hours; Massachusetts earned sick time accrues.
- Part-time employees under 30 hours a week are not eligible for health benefits.
- On-site at The Engine, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a BSL-1 and BSL-2 laboratory. The work involves human specimens and cultured organisms under BSL-2 practices with required PPE, precise pipetting and microscopy, extended periods standing at the bench, and lifting laboratory supplies up to 25 pounds.
HyperSpectral Corp is an equal opportunity employer. We make employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.