Senior Scientist - Strain Engineering

Role Description We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Senior Scientist to lead our Strain Engineering team. The role combines scientific leadership with active bench science: defining strain and platform strategy, designing and executing experiments, scoping development programs, and translating product opportunities into technically rigorous strain-development plans. The candidate will work closely with fermentation, downstream, regulatory, leadership, and external collaborators to advance programs from concept through scale-up readiness.
Key Responsibilities
Strain Engineering Leadership & Hands-on Science
Lead the design, construction, screening, and optimization of microbial production strains using hosts such as E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris/Komagataella phaffii, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, filamentous fungi, and other relevant organisms.
Remain hands-on at the bench as needed across cloning, DNA assembly, CRISPR/Cas engineering, transformation, strain verification, pathway engineering, expression optimization, and strain screening.
Develop engineering strategies to improve titer, productivity, yield, robustness, genetic stability, secretion/folding, tolerance, and other product-specific attributes.
Ensure rigorous strain lineage, construct, sequence, and performance documentation to support reproducibility, technology transfer, regulatory needs, and future IP protection.
Scientific Strategy, Platform Decisions & Program Scoping
Lead early technical assessment of new product opportunities and select appropriate hosts, chassis, expression systems, pathway architectures, screening approaches, and development sequences.
Make and document strategic platform recommendations, including build-versus-license decisions.
Translate business or product objectives into detailed scientific proposals.
Define clear success criteria for proof-of-concept, strain optimization, fermentation handoff, pilot readiness, and technology transfer.
Technology Evaluation, IP & FTO Support
Evaluate external strains, chassis platforms, genetic toolkits, expression systems, and strain-engineering technologies for technical fit, scalability, access, and commercial relevance.
Conduct preliminary patent, publication, and freedom-to-operate landscaping to identify relevant patent families, technical restrictions, licensing considerations, and areas requiring formal legal or specialist IP review.
Support technical due diligence of licensors, collaborators, academic groups, and technology providers; identify potentially patentable internal advances and maintain appropriate invention-supporting experimental records.
Team Leadership & Cross-functional Development
Lead and mentor strain-engineering scientists and research associates; set priorities, review experimental plans and data, troubleshoot programs, and build scientific capability within the team.
Establish strong laboratory standards for experimental rigor, reproducibility, biosafety, strain traceability, reagent/sample management, automation, data capture, and knowledge management.
Participate in project reviews with leadership, regulatory, engineering, and external partners; communicate technical risks, trade-offs, recommendations, and data clearly.
Qualifications
PhD in Biotechnology, Synthetic Biology, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Metabolic Engineering, Biochemistry, Biochemical Engineering, or a related field; exceptionally strong M.S./M.Tech candidates with substantial relevant industrial experience may also be considered.
10+ years of relevant industrial experience in microbial strain engineering, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, recombinant expression, or industrial biotechnology, with demonstrated scientific ownership of development programs.
Demonstrated ability to select microbial hosts and engineering strategies based on product biology, pathway/expression requirements, manufacturability, and commercial constraints; sound understanding of microbial physiology and fermentation fundamentals.
Ability to independently develop detailed scientific proposals, project scopes, experimental plans, decision trees, and development strategies from incomplete early-stage information, and to critically review literature, patents, public databases, and third-party technical packages.
Demonstrated scientific leadership, mentoring, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Preferred Experience
Leading strain-engineering programs from proof-of-concept to commercial translation.
Experience across multiple microbial hosts and products such as recombinant proteins, peptides, enzymes, specialty chemicals, flavors/fragrances, nutraceuticals, pigments, lipids, or other precision-fermentation-derived molecules.
Experience evaluating or licensing third-party strains/chassis/toolkits; patent searching, patent-family review, preliminary FTO landscaping, invention disclosure, or working with IP counsel.
Why Join Us?
Lead and shape the strain-engineering capability within an integrated precision fermentation platform spanning strain development, fermentation, downstream processing, and scale-up.
Take meaningful ownership of scientific strategy and platform decisions while remaining close to hands-on science, mentor a growing technical team, and work directly with leadership, global scientific advisors, collaborators, and technology partners on high-value programs with paths toward industrial translation.

Work arrangement
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