Lead or Senior Scientist - Genome Editing, Genomics, Biotechnology (Shengdar Q. Tsai Lab)

St. Jude Children'S Research Hospital

At a glance

Lead or Senior Scientist - Genome Editing, Genomics, Biotechnology (Shengdar Q. Tsai Lab) with St. Jude Children'S Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, paying $125,840–$238,160 a year ($60.50–$114.50 an hour). Posted Sep 22, 2026.

Pay
$125,840–$238,160 a year ($60.50–$114.50 an hour)
Location
Memphis, TN
Employment type
Full-time
Employer
St. Jude Children'S Research Hospital (health system)
Posted
Sep 22, 2026

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Job Description

A Lead or Senior Scientist opportunity with the Tsai Lab to develop a therapeutic platform for in vivo base editing treatments and drug products to treat patients with bone marrow failure disorders at St. Jude.
Help us build an individualized therapeutic base editing platform to treat St. Jude patients with rare bone marrow failure disorders by correcting their disease-causing mutations in their hematopoietic stem cells in vivo. Dr. Tsai leads the recently launched
DRIVE
project (
D
elivering Rare-disease In vivo Editors), funding a multi-institutional, public-private partnership to develop
in vivo
base editors for treatment of bone marrow failure disorders.

Bring your expertise in genome editing drug development to a Lead Scientist role in the
Tsai Lab
, where you will help advance genome editing technologies toward individualized treatments for pediatric patients. Our goal is to develop
in vivo
base editing drug products, complete IND-enabling studies, and open clinical trials in the next 3 years.

About the job opportunity.
We are seeking an outstanding and highly motivated Lead Scientist or Senior Scientist to help lead efforts to develop personalized genome editing treatments. We care deeply about the success of our scientists, and this is a unique opportunity to help lead development of an
in vivo
gene therapeutic gene editing platform and drug products at St. Jude, with substantial room for career growth and advancement.

Overview of our lab.
The Tsai lab is a highly collaborative, creative, and motivated group of scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Our research centers on development of state-of-the-art genomic methods for understanding the global activities of genome editors, protein engineering to improve capabilities for precise editing, and translation to autologous genome edited hematopoietic stem cell therapies.
Dr. Tsai
also co-leads the
PARADIGM
(
P
artnership to
A
dvance
D
evelopment of
I
ndividualized
G
enomic
M
edicines) blue sky project.

You would have
opportunities
to lead an exciting and fast-paced drug development effort:
Design and develop
in vivo
base editing drug products to treat St. Jude patients with bone marrow failure disorders.
Characterize the genotoxicity of candidate drug products using state-of-the art genomic assays such as CHANGE-seq-BE and CHANCE-seq, including variant-aware analysis.
Optimize potency and specificity of a HSC-targeted lipid nanoparticle gene editing approach.
Co-lead a multi-disciplinary team to test a new streamlined platform approach for
in vivo
genome editing medicines.
You would
learn valuable skills
that include:
Genome engineering, high-throughput genomics, laboratory automation, IND-enabling studies for genome editing drug development.
Project-dependent
responsibilities
would include:
Coordinate a team of scientists working to develop a novel gene editing platform.
Accelerate lead-target discovery, genotoxicity characterization, and cargo optimization.
Non-clinical pharmacology studies of an HSC-targeted lipid nanoparticle.
Continuously assess and manage project technical and drug development risks.
Analyze experimental outcomes and develop high-quality summaries.
Summarize results and present updates to the broader DRIVE and ARPA-H teams.
Draft manuscripts and figures for publication in high-impact journals.
Application process
Apply now
to join our talented team!
Please include a cover letter explaining your interest addressed to Dr. Tsai

who will read and review all qualified applications. If you have questions about the position, please don't hesitate to e-mail Dr. Tsai directly (
shengdar.tsai@stjude.org
).
Minimum Education and/or Training:
PhD in relevant scientific area is required, such as genomics, molecular and cell biology.
Expertise in genome editing, genomics, next-generation sequencing.
Excellent communication, organizational, and presentation skills.
Four or more years of hands-on research laboratory experience working with CRISPR genome editors and NGS library preparation.

Lead Scientist Minimum Experience:
Twelve (12) years of relevant work experience is required with a Bachelor's degree
Ten (10) years of relevant experience is required with a Master's degree
Seven (7) years of relevant work experience is required with a PhD
Salary Range: $125,840.00/yr. - $238,160.00/yr.
Senior Scientist Minimum Experience:
Ten (10) years relevant work experience is required
Eight (8) years of relevant work experience is required with a Master's degree
Five (5) years of relevant work experience is required with a PhD
Salary Range: $104,000/yr. - $186,160.00/yr.
St. Jude Benefits
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
is one of the world's leading pediatric hospitals whose mission is to advance cures for catastrophic childhood diseases. Consistent with the vision of our founder, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or ability to pay.

St. Jude has been consistently named one of the best companies to work for by Fortune, Glassdoor, and others. St. Jude offers excellent benefits, a competitive salary, relocation assistance, and actively fosters professional development. As part of your role, you will have opportunities to attend and present at national and international meetings such as ASGCT, ASH, Keystone Genome Engineering, CSHL Genome Editing, and FASEB Genome Engineering.
Compensation
In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $125,840 - $238,160 per year for the role of Lead or Senior Scientist - Genome Editing, Genomics, Biotechnology (Shengdar Q. Tsai Lab).
Explore our exceptional
benefits
!
We are committed to a human-centered hiring experience. Technology may support portions of our process, but recruiting decisions involve human review and engagement.
Learn more about our approach to AI
.
St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer
No Search Firms
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email, the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.

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