Scientist / Sr. Scientist Strain Development

Profile

OPENED: February 2022

About **MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***.

**MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. is re-imagining how to make some of our favorite everyday products without polluting the planet. Motivated by the enormous carbon footprint and vast amount of trash from the fossil-based materials produced by century-old technologies of the ‘traditional’ chemicals industry, **MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***.’s mission is to create plant-based, hero materials that enable a sustainable future. We are realizing this vision by pioneering low-cost fermentation-based production of chemicals coupled with advanced materials development technologies. 

**MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. has raised >$18 million to-date that includes funding from premier domestic & international venture capital firms, multiple government awards – most recently two ARPA-E awards – and partnerships with world-leading chemicals companies. Tripling in team size in 2021, we are maintaining our rapid growth and filling multiple roles (****We seek candidates who are motivated by science & innovation and have a passion to push the boundaries of materials performance. We are collaborative, multidisciplinary, and relentlessly committed to creating a chemicals & materials industry in tune with the 21st century. If this sounds exciting, we want to hear from you. 

The Opportunity

**MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. is hiring a Strain Development Scientist / Senior Scientist to join a rapidly expanding R&D team and leads efforts affiliated with both strain characterization and fermentation for the fast-paced, goal-driven development of the company’s novel carbon conserving metabolic pathway biotechnology. This role is a growth-based opportunity to acquire extensive, diverse experiences and skills with microbial physiology, strain design, biosynthetic pathway optimization, enzyme development, and fermentation science. The Strain Development Scientist will also have an opportunity to build out & expand the Strain Development Group’s capabilities with state-of-the-art technologies as well as to collaborate with other internal R&D groups and the company’s external partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, testing, and characterization of microbial strains with a focus on optimizing novel metabolic pathways for achieving targeted titer, rate, and yield metrics of small molecule products
• Construct and validate high-throughput, plate-based fermentation workflows for screening/characterization purposes and bioprocess development; experience applying cutting-edge technologies & strategies to accelerate scale-up efforts from plates to flasks to bioreactors is a plus
• Develop in-house technologies & methods and/or lead collaborative efforts oriented around strain adaptation/evolution
• Design bench-scale high cell density microbial fermentations toward benchmarking strain performance as well as optimizing bioprocess parameters, with the focus on meeting project goals centered around titer, production rate, and yield metrics
• Implement molecular and synthetic biology workflows to support strain & plasmids construction efforts
• Guide and perform in vitro and in vivo enzymatic assays
• Effectively communicate and collaborate with other R&D groups, including the Molecular Biology, Enzyme Engineering, Fermentation, and Analytics teams
• Interface with the company’s data management system to record strain-based, enzyme-based, and fermentation-based data
• Coordinate with external collaborators, partners, and vendors to ensure smooth workflow between all stakeholders
• Assist with the expansion of the group’s capabilities by exploring new technologies and strategies to improve experimental throughput and support automation efforts
• Mentor and manage Research Associates in the Strain Development Group

Qualifications

• PhD or MS in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Bioengineering, or a related discipline
• PhD with 1-4 years (or MS degree with 3-6 years) research experience in an industrial/startup research group is preferred
• Demonstrated ability to reach targeted metrics though design, construction, and testing of strains and biosynthetic pathways toward small molecule production; hands-on experience with metabolic modeling is a plus
• Experience working with the engineering of bacteria is required; additional experience with E. coli and/or other industrially relevant microorganisms is a plus.
• Aptitude for various aspects of microbial fermentations such as fed-batch & chemostats operations, microaerobic & anaerobic fermentations, media design, strain evolution studies, scale-down fermentation technologies (BioLector, Ambr), and high-throughput, automated culture development
• Experience with implementing design of experiment (DoE) methods for strain screening/characterization and bioprocess development
• Hands-on experience with synthetic biology and strain engineering techniques such as PCR, Gibson Assembly, restriction digestion, ligation, and homologous recombination
• Experience with protein expression, purification, and enzymatic assays.
• Demonstrated success working both individually and cross-disciplinary to balance multiple independent experiments/projects
• Rigorous attention to details with experimental design, execution, noise/variability, reproducibility, and record keeping
• Keen sense for both physical (lab) and data-oriented organization
• Excellent time management skills, effective with multitasking, and an adept ability to improvise work plans while maintaining efficiency
• Previous mentoring experience is a plus

Benefits

Full-time opportunities at **MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. come with:

• Competitive salary
• Benefits package that includes company stock options, 401(k) option, and employee medical, dental, and vision healthcare coverage
• Additional benefits including dependent healthcare coverage, FSA, HSA, commuter, and supplemental life insurance
• Flexible time off policy with 15 days paid vacation days per year and 10 paid company holidays per year

**MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. offers full-time employees a competitive base salary, a comprehensive benefits package, and a company culture that’s collaborative, multidisciplinary, and committed to a big vision for positively impacting the world. We seek candidates who are motivated by our mission and are equally passionate toward pushing the boundaries to build a sustainable future.  This position will be based in the Gate 510 technology hub in San Leandro, CA, and **MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. may agree to offer relocation assistance for this role. Located in the vibrant East Bay area of San Francisco, Gate 510 is a state-of-the-facility with many in-house and nearby amenities.

If this opportunity sounds exciting and aligns with your career aspirations, we want to hear from you!

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Legal authorization to work in the United States is required. **MEMBERS ONLY**SIGN UP NOW***. may agree to sponsor an individual for an employment visa immediate or in the future if there is a shortage of individuals with particular skills for this job.  In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States, and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

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Company info

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