PTI

Spark Climate Solutions is seeking candidates for the Parallel Squared Technology Institute (PTI) in Belmont, MA. PTI is a non-profit research institute focused on advancing protein analysis technology to investigate diseases like Alzheimer’s. The role requires collaboration among chemists, biologists, and engineers to develop innovative mass spectrometry techniques. Ideal candidates hold advanced degrees in relevant fields and have expertise in proteomics, data analysis, and cloud computing. PTI offers competitive benefits, including comprehensive insurance and generous PTO.
Parallel Squared Technology Institute (PTI) is a non-profit research institute aiming to catalyze a leap in protein analysis technology and use it to explore new biological frontiers. PTI supports open research and educational opportunities supporting rapid career development for scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.

Why? Protein dysfunctions directly cause many diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Yet, proteins remain understudied because of technological hurdles.

How? To resolve these limitations, PTI will develop mass tags enabling a new framework for multiplexed protein analysis by mass spectrometry towards achieving 100-fold increase in throughput. Scientists at and collaborating with the institute will use these gains to directly investigate disease mechanisms and resolve problems that have proven intractable for decades. Our proof of principle technology and strategies are outlined at: parallelsq.org.

Who? PTI’s new approach requires synergy between a diverse team of chemists, machine learning engineers, biologists and mass spectrometrists. Alzheimer’s disease and aging will be among the first focuses of this technology-driven research organization.

New career opportunities
Members of PTI will be supported with industry-level resources to lead research projects and disseminate their discoveries and innovations to the broader biomedical community through frequent publications, presentations, and submissions to public data portals.

Qualifications we are generally interested in for different roles:
• Master’s or PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, Neurobiology, or related field. BS degree with at least 3 years of experience are also welcome to apply.
• Experience with LC-MS/MS, particularly for proteomics.
• Able to develop highly-sensitive workflows for data acquisition by LC-MS/MS pipelines.
• Experience collaborating with biologists, chemists, research associates, computational scientists, and mass spectrometrists to leverage PTI’s multiplexing platform.
• Experience in large-scale analyses that involve many samples, such as thousands of single cells or bulk tissues, and then visualizing datasets with Python and/or R as well as the command line.
• Reproducible research using tools such as git, Jupyter notebooks, etc.
• Experience with cloud environments such as AWS or Google Cloud.
• Preparation and analysis of brain samples, or equivalent working experience. In particular, preparing human brain tissue for downstream protein analyses.
• Mentoring scientists and research associates. Preparing internal reports and manuscripts, and presenting results at internal or external scientific meetings as appropriate.
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, inclusion, and cultural awareness through actions, interactions, and communications with others.

We offer:
• An opportunity to change the world and work with some of the smartest and the most talented experts from different fields.
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision insurance with many $0 premium options for you and your family with several national and regional providers. Most employees have more than 20 plan options to choose from.
• Company-paid group life, AD&D, long- and short-term disability insurance
• 15 days PTO + 10 sick days per year
• 18 company holidays + your birthday off
• $5,000 per year educational reimbursement
• Up to 16 weeks paid parental leave

We aim to help fill a structural gap in today’s R&D system. We enable fundamental research that requires unusual levels of scale and coordination yet is not rapidly monetizable by industry. We’re bringing together top talent from academia, industry, and startups to build a new model for innovative R&D. As an incubator within the Schmidt Futures Network, we identify high-impact scientific or technical research and development opportunities, ultimately defining and launching these projects as Focused Research Organizations.

We are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state, or federal law or company policy. We strive for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibit harassment of any kind.