(Associate) Technical Specialist/Associate Scientist - High‑Throughput Safety Assays
Beerse, BE, 2340
For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.
Beerse, Belgium – On‑site | Discovery Insourcing | Full time
Are you passionate about applying cuttingedge invitro technologies to advance the safety of new medicines? Join our dynamic team and contribute to early safety derisking through highthroughput cardiomyocyte and neuronal assays. This role begins as a 1year assignment, with the possibility of extension.
What you’ll be working on:
You will help run and scale assays that evaluate early cardiac and neuronal safety signals for our client’s high throughput safety screening group.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Scaling up and executing high throughput calcium imaging assays (e.g. FDSS) on cardiomyocytes to identify compounds with potential cardiac liabilities.
- Scaling up and running high throughput multielectrode array (MEA) assays using neuronal cultures to detect early neurotoxicity signals.
- Preparing media, solutions, and assay plates with high precision.
- Maintaining and passaging mammalian cell cultures.
- Conduct data analysis using commercial software platforms and deliver accurate, well‑interpreted results to guide project decisions.
- Ensuring that data is recorded, uploaded, and organized with high accuracy.
- Troubleshooting day-to-day lab challenges and keeping workflows smooth
- Maintaining stocks, consumables, and an organized lab environment.
What You Bring:
You are a semi-independent experimentalist who enjoys working in a dynamic lab environment, troubleshoots effectively, and communicates results clearly. You will contribute to high‑quality data generation and ensure robust documentation in alignment with our quality standards.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, Cell Biology, Pharmacology, Biotechnology, or a related discipline.
- Hands‑on experience with cell culture and aseptic techniques.
- 2-5 years of experience with in vitro technologies (e.g. electrophysiological methods).
- Knowledge of software packages (RFS, Mosaic, Excel, etc.) or ability to quickly learn new systems.
- A strong eye for detail and commitment to accurate documentation.
- A proactive mindset: you notice what needs doing and take initiative.
- Ability to work both independently and closely with teammates.
- Clear communication skills in English.
- Flexibility and willingness to work variable hours depending on project needs.
We believe great science happens when everyone feels respected, included, and empowered. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Diverse teams create stronger ideas, better solutions, and ultimately better medicines.
About Discovery
Discovery from Charles River is industry-proven in the successful development of novel therapies, with over 350 patents and 80 preclinical drug candidates delivered to our sponsors in the past 17 years. Backed by more than 650 scientists, our comprehensive, integrated portfolio employs the latest technology and platforms to provide chemistry, biology, and pharmacology services that support clients from the earliest stages of hit identification all the way through to IND. Our client-focused, collaborative approach creates true partnerships that anticipate challenges, overcome obstacles, and move us forward together on the journey of getting new drugs to market.
About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.
With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.
At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly supported the development of 86% of the drugs approved by the FDA in 2021.
At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to the principle of diversity and inclusion and work daily in this direction.
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