Research Associate II
UPSIDE Foods
Emeryville, CA, USA
USD 75k-85k / year + Equity
Posted on Oct 1, 2025
About us:
Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from real animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. In doing so, the company aims to address some of the most pressing environmental, animal welfare, and public health challenges, while still giving people the meat they love.
Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck) and to sell a cultivated meat product in the United States. The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood.
UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech and World Changing Ideas Awards, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.
About this job:
The R&D Research Associate II, Media Development, will be responsible for setting up and running experiments to develop cell culture media formulations. The R&D Research Associate II will also aid in analysis, interpret data, and provide input for future experiments.
Responsibilities include:
- Animal cell/tissue culture techniques, including thawing, subculturing, freezing, and aseptic execution
- Cell culture media development (serum-free, animal component-free, chemically defined)
- Set up, execute, record, and analyze experiments -- done independently or with minimal guidance from team/project lead for complex experiments
- Proficient data collection, management, and interpretation
- Take an active role in determining the next steps alongside the project team/lead
- Provides input for further experiments based on data and objectives
- Identifies opportunities to increase efficiency or quality of existing processes
- Works across traditional and high-throughput cell culture platforms at multiple scales
About you:
- BS in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering or closely related science with 2+ years of research laboratory experience
- Desired: MS with 1+ years of post-graduate research and development experience in the biopharmaceutical or similar industry
- Working knowledge or hands-on experience of cell culture processes
- Competent with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word. Experience with statistical software like JMP, Minitab, Simca, etc. is desirable
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving, and cross-functional environment
- Comfortable developing scientific knowledge base by learning new methods from peers, seminars and scientific literature.
- Fosters a team environment collaborating scientifically with team members
- Maintains laboratory notebooks with detailed experimental designs and results, which can be presented at team meetings
Desirable skills:
- Working knowledge of statistical design of experiment techniques (DOE)
- Mammalian and/or avian cell culture and recombinant protein expression. e.g. generation of stable cell lines expressing relevant levels of a r-protein
- Experience culturing stem cells, T cells, or HEK cells
- Experience with protein analysis methods (i.e, Western blot, FACS, and immunocytochemistry)
Who you’ll work with:
- This role will heavily participate in projects within Cell Culture Media and will collaborate closely with multiple teams within R&D
Key Contributions in First Year:
- Contribute to multiple projects that support the development of cell culture media and processes
- Development and implementation of new processes and assays associated with cell culture media development
Compensation Range: $75,000 - $85,000*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.
UPSIDE Benefits!
- Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
- 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
- Pet insurance for your furry family members!
- Unlimited PTO
- Employee Engagement Council
- Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities
UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.