Senior Scientist — Organoid Model Development

<p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Job description</strong></p><p style="min-height:1.5em">At Orakl Oncology, we are accelerating the development of oncology treatments. Today, fewer than 5% of new cancer drugs succeed in clinical trials. Clearly, new methods are needed. We combine cutting-edge biology and AI to build the next generation of insight platforms with the world's largest cohort of patient tumor avatars. These avatars fuel our AI-powered predictive engine, helping to anticipate clinical trial outcomes, validate therapies, and uncover new drug candidates.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">Our mission is simple yet ambitious: to bring more effective treatments to patients who need them — and to make drug development smarter, faster, and more personalised. We collaborate with top hospitals, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Backed by leading investors, we are a fast-growing, mission-driven startup at the intersection of science and technology.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">We are looking for a passionate, hands-on <strong>Senior Scientist</strong> to expand Orakl's biobank to new indications. Working with significant autonomy and reporting to Gizem Altay, Principal Scientist, you will own the establishment of patient-derived organoids from fresh surgical specimens — starting with NSCLC and extending to additional tumour types — from tissue receipt and dissociation through to stable, well-characterised lines ready for downstream applications. You will develop and optimise robust culture protocols, ensure reproducibility across donors, and generate the high-quality biological models that power our AI predictive engine and our partnerships with hospitals and pharma.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Preferred experience</strong></p><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Must have</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">PhD in cancer biology, molecular biology, cell biology, biotechnology, or a related field, as well as 5+ years of hands-on experience, including industry or translational settings.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Proven, hands-on experience establishing NSCLC patient-derived organoids from fresh surgical specimens — including tissue handling, dissociation, embedding, and long-term expansion.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong track record in primary tumour culture, including troubleshooting low take-rates, and donor-to-donor variability and other optimization including: media formulation, matrix selection, passaging strategies, cryopreservation etc.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Exceptional wet-lab fundamentals: sterile technique, routine culture, assay development, and QC.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Prior experience in building scientific direction, ownership of QC/characterisation strategy, and decision-making</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Demonstrated ability to independently plan, prioritise, and execute complex experimental pipelines with high quality and reproducibility.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong analytical and quantitative data-interpretation skills, with clear documentation and reporting.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Nice to have</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Direct experience collaborating with hospitals, pathology departments, or surgical teams on