Postdoctoral Researcher

Overview

Role Purpose

Strategic Responsibilities

• Contribute to the drug design and prioritization of research programs aligned with the organization’s therapeutic objectives.
• Provide scientific insights that inform project decision-making and experimental design for drug development.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (bioinformatics, proteomics, genomics) to integrate multi-disciplinary data for project advancement.
• Mentor junior scientists and interns in experimental techniques, data analysis, and scientific best practices.
• Identify emerging technologies in therapeutics and propose integration strategies.

Core Responsibilities

• Design, execute, and interpret cell-based functional genomics experiments to develop next generation mRNA drug
• Develop and optimize
• *in vitro*
• assays for therapeutic validation (including antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) workflows)
• Perform mechanistic and pathway-based studies to understand therapeutic effects
• Conduct mammalian cell culture including maintenance and experimental manipulation
• Apply molecular biology techniques (RNA/DNA extraction, qPCR, etc.)
• Analyze and interpret experimental data, including basic transcriptomic or functional datasets
• Develop and validate cellular disease models relevant to therapeutic targets
• Support drug discovery and preclinical research pipelines
• Integrate experimental results with multi-omics datasets
• Contribute to high-impact publications, grants, and scientific outputs
• Present findings at national and international conferences
• Participate in teaching and education-related activities within the College of Medicine, MBRU.

Community Service

• Seeks and develops relationship with suitable external partners in order to raise the profile of the College and the University.
• Provides opportunities for assisting professional colleagues to maintain and enhance their skills by offering Continuing Professional development in their specialty.

Self-Management Responsibilities

• Defines performance goals at the start of the year in discussion with the reporting manager and ensures that the goals are monitored and achieved during the year.
• Takes ownership of his/her own learning agenda by identifying development needs in consultation with the reporting manager and working towards bridging the gaps through various means which go beyond just training.
• Understands the competencies relevant to his/her role and works towards displaying as well as developing these effectively.
• Keeps abreast of relevant professional/industry developments, new techniques and current issues through continued education and professional networks.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Genomics, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, or related field
• Strong expertise in mammalian cell culture (MANDATORY)
• Experience in therapeutic research (e.g., ASO, RNA therapeutics, gene therapy, drug discovery, or related areas)
• Hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques
• Ability to design experiments and work independently
• Familiarity with basic data analysis (qPCR interpretation, RNA-seq exposure, or equivalent)
• Track record of scientific publications

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with stem cell models (iPSC/ESC)
• Exposure to multi-omics integration
• Experience in translational or preclinical research environments
• Prior mentoring experience
• Written and spoken English is essential, Arabic is preferred
• Years of Experience:
• PhD in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Biomedical Sciences, or a related field from an accredited institute/college/university.