Scientist / Sr Scientist, Fermentation

OPENED: December 2021

About ZymoChem

ZymoChem 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, ZymoChem'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.

ZymoChem 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 (www.zymochem.com/careers). 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

We are adding a Scientist / Senior Scientist, Fermentation to our new, distinct Fermentation Team focused on the development of the company's proprietary carbon-conserving technology. This role is a career-defining opportunity to gain experience directly contributing to the successful scaling of ZymoChem's first products to the commercial level. You will embrace opportunities to build out the Fermentation Team's capabilities & workflows with cutting-edge tools and techniques as well as establish consistent multi-disciplinary collaborations with other internal R&D groups, external partners, and CMOs. Through these challenges, you will also make a positive impact on the world in the battle against climate change.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute bench-scale high cell density microbial fermentations toward optimization of bioprocess parameters such as media formulation and expression development
• Perform benchmarking studies focused on understanding strain performance and meeting project goals centered around titer, production rate, and yield metrics
• Construct and validate high-throughput, plate-based fermentation workflows for screening/characterization purposes and bioprocess development
• Develop technologies and/or methods oriented around strain adaptation/evolution
• Optimization of fermentations and application of new technologies & strategies to accelerate and support scale-up efforts from plates to flasks to reactors
• Collaborate internally with the Strain Engineering, Analytics, and Process Development & Scale-up Groups as well as externally with ZymoChem's partners to guide strain development, fermentation work plans, and scale-up efforts
• Establish a data management system to track fermentation-based data as well as implement statistical and computational analyses on large data sets
• Lead the expansion and maintenance of the company's fermentation capabilities: procurement of equipment, build-out, equipment troubleshooting & repair
• Work with CMOs to facilitate the successful scale-up of in-house fermentation processes from the bench to commercial levels
• Work towards establishing and maintaining general safety guidelines and workflow in the lab
  
  

Qualifications

• PhD or MS in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Fermentation Science, or a related discipline
• 2-6+ years of industrial/startup experience. Scale-up experience will be a definite plus
• Aptitude for various aspects of fermentation R&D such as media design, fed-batch & chemostats operations, microaerobic & anaerobic fermentations, 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
• Experience with biosynthetic pathways, recombinant protein expression and small molecule production
• Demonstrated success working both individually and cross-disciplinary to balance multiple independent experiments/projects
• Familiarity with various bioreactor systems and control software; fermentation-related accessory technologies; and statistics, data analysis tools, and data management software
• Ability and willingness to work occasionally on weekends and/or outside of normal business hours because...biology
  
  

Benefits

Full-time opportunities at ZymoChem 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
  
  

ZymoChem 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 ZymoChem 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! Please send your resume/CV and a cover letter to ritu@zymochem.com and include "Application for Scientist / Sr Scientist, Fermentation" in the subject line of the email.

Legal authorization to work in the United States is required. ZymoChem 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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