We are looking for a hands‑on Protein Biochemistry Technician to run small-scale protein expression and analytics on our in‑house expression platform – for our clients, and for ourselves.
Most people know us for raising fruit flies at industrial scale to make recombinant proteins. Alongside that, we run small‑scale protein expression as a service: clients bring us their proteins, and we express them and analyze what comes out. We do the same for our own internal programs, so some weeks your client is the person at the next bench.
Your day runs from template to data: check the DNA templates that arrive, make the mRNA, run the expression, and measure what came out with analytics you trust. When a client or an internal team is waiting on a result, you’re the reason it arrives on the day we said it would – and the reason nobody has to ask whether it’s right!
Most weeks, the job is doing well‑understood things very well: the same expression runs, the same gels, the same assays, set up carefully and documented properly. Some weeks, something won’t behave – low yield, a truncated product, two assays that tell different stories: and you’ll help work out why, with controls and clean experiments rather than repeats and hope. We need someone who enjoys both, and who knows when a question has been answered well enough to move on.
This role exists because our clients and our own programs both need protein, quickly and reliably, and that only happens when someone owns the work every time, to the same standard, on a timeline people can plan around. All of this work is research grade. That means rigour, controls and records you’d be happy to show anyone.
You’ll report to Paige, Technical Project Manager, as part of our CDMO team. In this role, you’ll collaborate closely with platform development scientists and client‑facing project managers. While project managers manage client relationships and deliver final reports, you own the responsibility of ensuring all handed‑over data is accurate and dependable. Like everyone on a small team, you’ll also pitch in on other general lab technician duties for the CDMO team as needed.
Like most positions at Future Fields, a solid foundation in biology – specifically biochemistry and molecular biology – is essential. With a team largely composed of people with diverse backgrounds, you’ll always have colleagues ready to collaborate and discuss assay results or analyze a gel.




One thing to know up front: this is a bench job . Most of your day is in the lab, with very little desk time, and a good share of the work is repetitive by design. If that sounds like a good day, keep reading.
Protein expression Set up and run small-scale protein expression on our in‑house platform for client projects and internal programs, on a schedule other people can rely on.
Bring the same care to the fiftieth run as the first: correct setup and the right controls always.
Run expression screens across templates and conditions, and report clearly what worked and what didn’t.
Plan your week around deadlines, and flag early when something is at risk of slipping.
mRNA and templates Make mRNA by in vitro transcription – capping, purification and RNA QC – with careful RNase‑free technique.
Receive and QC incoming DNA templates: concentration, integrity, and a check that what arrived is what was ordered.
Keep mRNA and template stocks organized, labelled and logged.
Analytics Run the assays that tell us what came out: SDS-PAGE, Western blot, protein quantification, and luminescence, fluorescence and activity assays on the plate reader.
Produce data that holds up: proper controls and standards, sensible replicates, and results you can explain.
Help improve methods as you go.
Problem-solving When expression or analytics don’t behave – low yield, truncation, misfolding, noisy assays – help work out why, with experiments that separate the possibilities rather than changing five variables at once.
Know when you have enough. Bring a transparent recommendation and keep things moving, rather than chasing a perfect answer while a deadline goes by.
Write down what you learn in our ELN (Benchling) so the same problem is a ten minute fix next time, and share what you see with the scientists who develop the platform.
Data, documentation and confidentiality Record everything in Benchling – templates, mRNA lots, expression runs, results – in enough detail that any experiment can be traced and repeated.
Hand clean,



well-organized results to the project manager on each client project, who prepares what goes to the client.
Keep client materials and data confidential, always.
Upstream materials, occasionally Occasionally help prepare upstream reagents and materials when the team needs it.
What we need you to have done before Hands‑on molecular biology. PCR, gel electrophoresis, and nucleic acid quantification and QC as a regular part of your work.
RNA work. Hands‑on RNA handling, ideally in vitro transcription, somewhere RNase‑free technique genuinely mattered.
Protein expression and biochemistry. You’ve expressed proteins in one or more systems, and you have a working sense of why some express well and others don’t.
Protein analytics. SDS-PAGE and Western blot are second nature, and you’ve run quantification and plate-based assays—luminescence, fluorescence, activity.
Reliable execution to deadlines. You’ve run parallel experiments that other people were waiting on, and delivered them on time without cutting corners.
Documentation and attention to detail. Your lab notebook or ELN is something another scientist could pick up and repeat your work from, and you notice when a label, a number or a band looks off.
Problem‑solving at the bench. You’ve had an experiment fail and helped work out why.
Where you might be coming from An academic or industry lab where you were the reliable pair of hands for protein work, a core facility, a CRO or CDMO, a synthetic biology or biotech startup, or a protein science or assay team. A BSc or MSc in biochemistry, molecular biology or a related field, plus roughly 2+ years of hands‑on lab experience. Above all, we’re looking for someone who takes initiative, takes feedback well, and wants to grow with a team that’s still building a lot of things for the first time.
Bonus points (nice‑to‑haves) Experience across more than one expression system – bacterial, yeast, insect or mammalian.
CRO, CDMO or core‑facility experience, where the protein belongs to someone else and so does the deadline.
mRNA production by IVT at larger scale.
Design of experiments (DoE) for expression or assay optimization.
Liquid handling automation.
Familiarity with HPLC or mass spectrometry for protein characterization.
Benchling, or experience working within a quality system.

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📌 Protein Biochemistry Technician Future Fields Manufacturing recombinant proteins with whole fruit fl (Alberta)
🏢 AgFunder
📍 Alberta