Quality Control Associate
Trailhead Biosystems
Summary
We are seeking a highly motivated Quality Control Associate with at least 3 years of laboratory experience in a regulated biotechnology, cell therapy, or life sciences environment. The successful candidate will support Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) activities through analytical testing, assay development, documentation, and compliance with ISO 9001 standards and established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Job description
Position Summary
We are seeking a highly motivated Quality Control Associate with at least 3 years of laboratory experience in a regulated biotechnology, cell therapy, or life sciences environment. The successful candidate will support Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) activities through analytical testing, assay development, documentation, and compliance with ISO 9001 standards and established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
This role requires hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture, stem cell culture, flow cytometry, molecular and cell-based assays, aseptic techniques, and quality-focused laboratory operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform in process and lot-release QC testing and characterization of stem cell derived products using validated methods.
- Maintain and culture stem cells utilizing aseptic techniques, including cell used as assay controls and reference material.
- Conduct and analyze assays including Flow Cytometry, qPCR, ELISA, Immunocytochemistry (ICC)
- Analyze and report results (FlowJo, GraphPad Prism, ImageJ) and compile data for review and Certificate of Analysis preparation.
- Execute sample preparation, testing, data analysis, and documentation activities.
- Draft and revise SOPs, test methods, and forms for the methods you run, for review and approval by others.
- Ensure compliance with QA/QC requirements and company procedures.
- Investigate deviations, document non-conformances, and support corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
- Maintain logs for deviations, CAPAs, and change controls, and report open items and aging to the Director of Manufacturing and Quality.
- Help prepare records and evidence for internal audits.
- Keep QC equipment in service: routine maintenance, calibration and service scheduling, and equipment records.
- Manage QC reagent and consumable inventory, including lot tracking, expiry, and reorder triggers.
- Participate in method optimization, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement initiatives, including recurring assay problems and suggest practical fixes to existing methods
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support product development and release testing activities.
- Maintain accurate, timely, and compliant laboratory documentation.
Qualifications
Required:
- Master’s degree in biology, Cell Biology, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific field.
- Minimum 3 years of laboratory experience in an industry and/or research setting.
- At least 1 year of that experience in industry, ideally running routine testing in a QC, CRO, or other regulated or quality-managed lab.
- Hands-on experience with iPSC, Stem cell culture, Flow cytometry, qPCR, ELISA, Immunocytochemistry (ICC), Aseptic techniques
- Experience writing and revising SOPs and technical documents.
- Working knowledge of Good Documentation Practices and data integrity expectations.
- Track record of executing written procedures precisely and repeatedly, with low error rates.
- Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Preferred:
- Exposure to document control, change control, deviations, or CAPA within a quality system (ISO 9001, GMP, or GLP).
- Experience with a quality management system.
- Experienced working in a fast-paced work environment.
Requirements
- Master’s degree in biology, Cell Biology, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific field.
- Minimum 3 years of laboratory experience in an industry and/or research setting.
- At least 1 year of that experience in industry, ideally running routine testing in a QC, CRO, or other regulated or quality-managed lab.
- Hands-on experience with iPSC, Stem cell culture, Flow cytometry, qPCR, ELISA, Immunocytochemistry (ICC), Aseptic techniques
- Experience writing and revising SOPs and technical documents.
- Working knowledge of Good Documentation Practices and data integrity expectations.
- Track record of executing written procedures precisely and repeatedly, with low error rates.
- Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Exposure to document control, change control, deviations, or CAPA within a quality system (ISO 9001, GMP, or GLP).
- Experience with a quality management system.
- Experienced working in a fast-paced work environment.
Company overview
Trailhead Biosystems Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. The company pioneers the development of scalable human cell models derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for drug discovery and cell therapy. Its offerings include ready-to-use research cell products, custom differentiation services, and a high-dimensional design-of-experiments (DoE) platform that integrates computational modeling, automation, and large-scale data generation. By applying Quality by Design principles and multivariate data analysis, Trailhead maps effector-response relationships in cell culture, enabling virtual experiments that reduce development time and improve cell purity and potency. Notable commercial products include TrailBio Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells and Vascular Leptomeningeal Cells. The company has raised over $60 million in funding and serves researchers and drug developers seeking reproducible, high-purity cell differentiation to accelerate disease modeling and preclinical research.