Metabolic Engineer

Senior Scientist Metabolic Engineering

Summary:

Our client is a venture funded, sustainable aviation fuel development company based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Their novel, one-of-a kind technology allows them to harness energy from biomass and convert it to superior performance aviation fuel as well as carbon negative, bio-rubber that can be used in various consumer and commercial products.

This company was initially inspired by their co-founders and a team of brilliant scientists looking to create clean energy solutions. They are a passionate and creative group of engineers, scientists, and visionaries who have since been focused on aviation fuels, with the purpose of creating a sustainable planet, reducing global carbon emissions, and ultimately combatting climate change.

Duties / Expectations of Role:

We are seeking an experienced metabolic engineer for leading development of micro-organism based chemical production fulfilling research and development goals of the company. The ideal candidate should have strong knowledge and experience with metabolic engineering to produce high value biological products. The candidate will be responsible for strain improvement, independent design, and construction in the laboratory based on a strong command of biochemical engineering principles.

• Design, execute and analyze strain construction and strain improvement strategies to produce molecules of interest through engineered metabolic pathways
• Expedite the process improvement and optimization with innovative technical solutions for development of biological products
• Develop and document improved methods for novel products of CJ to accelerate product development, scale-up and implementation
• Apply advanced statistical tools and write experimental reports for supporting business and R&D needs
• Use technical writing expertise to author proposals and reports for internal and external research clients
• Design and execute analytical protocols to quantify and qualify cultured organisms as well as products produced

Mandatory Requirements:

• PhD degree in molecular biology, biotechnology, chemical engineering, or related discipline
• 3+ years of experience (post-PhD) working in academic and/or industrial research laboratory
• Prior experience in the engineering of metabolic pathways in microorganisms
• Experience with common molecular biology techniques: SDS-PAGE, Western Blot, PCR, transformation, plasmid construction, etc.
• Experience with advanced molecular biology techniques: Whole plasmid sequencing, pathway balancing, genomic integration, construction of metabolic circuits etc.
• Experience with analytical instruments including GC and HPLC
• Demonstrated expertise in balancing of metabolic pathways

Preferred Requirements:

• Experience in industrial strain improvement
• Experience in engineering industrial microbial organisms outside of E. coli
• Demonstrated excellent written communication skills through intellectual property authorship or funded grant applications

Term & Start:

• Direct hire position
• On-site in Salt Lake City, UT