Associate Director, Tissue Development

About us

At the forefront of farming and food, UPSIDE Foods is innovating new ways to produce real meat, without the need to breed, feed and slaughter animals. Our process begins with an animal cell, which is cultivated and harvested as meat. UPSIDE Foods is a mission-driven company focused on bringing to meat lovers an authentic product that is truly humane, sustainably produced, nutritious and delicious! We are now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across disciplines to make better meat for a better world.

About this job

We are seeking an innovative, productive, and experienced Associate Director to manage our Tissue Development group within the Upstream Development team. This individual will be responsible for leading projects focused on developing processes for the generation of cell cultured meat as well as managing a team of Scientists and Associates. The role will work closely with cell line and media development teams to formulate and execute a strategy for scalable meat production. This individual will also help the team create a robust infrastructure for the characterization and transfer of cells, media, and processes from R&D to large-scale teams.

Duties include

• Leading projects in process development and R&D to produce cell cultured meat products
• Identifying and optimizing cell lines,  cell culture media and processes  for scalable meat production
• Implementing innovative approaches to an emerging field to identify novel levers to improve upon the performance and sensory characteristics of our product, utilizing classic and new tissue engineering and cellular biology strategies in an industrial setting
• Managing and mentoring a team of Research Scientists and Associates
• Collaborating with supporting teams to utilize high-throughput technology to characterize and identify optimal cell lines and growth conditions
• Collaborating with downstream teams to ensure proper and efficient transfer of scalable cells and process, product teams to ensure and optimize the quality of meat, and Media Development to optimize animal component-free formulations.
• Aiding team in experimental design, procedure, data collection, and interpretation of results
• Improving team efficiency in experimentation and operation
• Frequent and clear communication of technical data and research directions
• Interfacing with LIMS data platform to ensure component traceability through workflow and proper characterization of processes
• Managing individual and team timelines and expectations

About you

• BS/MS or Ph.D. in cell biology, stem cell biology, biochemistry, bioengineering or closely-related science with 8+ years of R&D experience in the biopharmaceutical, or similar industry
• Industrial cell culture media and/or process development experience and strong academic background in a relevant field
• Experience in tissue engineering, skeletal muscle or stem cell biology, or cell therapy is desirable
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and cross-functional environment
• Comfortable developing scientific knowledge base by learning new methods from peers, seminars, and scientific literature
• Capable of fostering a team environment, collaborating  with direct team members as well as scientists in other departments. Open to new ideas and often seeks critical feedback from colleagues and demonstrates effective cooperation
• Ability to develop and nurture internal and external relationships with key colleagues, collaborators and vendors
• Maintain scientific scholarship through internal and external networking and frequent literature reviews