Food Scientist

over 2 years ago
Full time role
Emeryville, CA, US... more
Emeryville, CA, US... more

Company

Shiru leverages computational design to create enhanced proteins that feed the world sustainably. ...

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Job Description

About us At Shiru we believe that food should be delicious and nourishing without negatively affecting our planet. Acknowledging our growing global population as well as the imminent effects of climate change, Shiru’s mission is to create better protein ingredients that will catapult us into a sustainable food future. 
With our mission in mind, Shiru makes high quality, functional food proteins through better leveraging our precious environmental resources. To do this, we employ technologies originally  created to solve problems in adjacent industries, including computational biology, machine learning, and industrial fermentation and bioprocessing.
We apply computational intelligence to find the most functional natural food proteins in the world, harnessing the inherent ability of microflora to produce them. We then partner with food and beverage companies to incorporate these unique protein ingredients into everyday products. Shiru is now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across multiple disciplines to make enhanced protein ingredients for a better world.
About the roleIn this role you will be the first to take Shiru’s novel protein ingredients and formulate them into product prototypes spanning categories including alternatives to meat and dairy, baked goods, sauces, and many more. You will be a critical connection between the upstream protein discovery team and food application targets defined by us or our industry partners.  You will relate your deep understanding of first principles in chemistry and physics to the performance of Shiru’s flagship ingredients in various food applications through the use of model systems. Consequently, you will develop & execute tests to validate protein candidates against the desired functionalities and create recipes and protocols for our internal capabilities and our customers. As an early team member and an expert in food functionality your guidance will have a lasting impact on Shiru’s food science capabilities, in turn providing tremendous opportunities for your own personal growth.
About youYou combine a scientific mind with a genuine passion for food and thrive for excellence in your work product. You are a meticulous and persistent problem solver, with the ability to interrogate and explain food properties based on your understanding of ingredient interactions, food processing phenomenon, and basic science in a wide variety of food applications.  You are keen on applying research to discover how novel, sustainable ingredients can be used to enable entire categories of delicious food products to be made.
At Shiru you will be responsible for designing and implementing methods for assaying simplified food systems to test novel ingredient contributions and interactions. In this role, you will be the critical link connecting our research team discovering novel ingredients to our customers to make sure our ingredients are superior in solving critical formulation challenges. This role will also interface with process engineers who will produce these ingredients at a commercial scale and product developers who create delicious, transformational products with the ingredients you help develop. The opportunity to be a driving force behind re-programming the world’s food system is enormously motivating to you.  Come join us and together we will create the future of food.

Responsibilities

  • Research and identify the critical performance characteristics of target food applications.  Develop model systems of complete food matrices and related tests to measure these characteristics to capture the performance of Shiru’s novel ingredients. Accelerate product development by providing a deep understanding of how each novel ingredient performs in relevant experimental landscapes. 
  • Formulate food product concepts and recipes to demonstrate the functional attributes of Shiru’s ingredients and present the concepts to our customers, partners, investors, and the media.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams of scientists, engineers, and business development experts to leverage each unique skill set the Shiru team brings together. 
  • Perform research with the following subset of analytical techniques to interrogate food systems: DSC, UV/VIS-spectroscopy, particle size analysis, laser diffraction particle size analysis, rheology, texture profile analysis, microscopy.
  • Serve as the technical liaison between Shiru’s ingredient discovery team and our customers, delivering clear results to multiple stakeholders that ultimately shorten our time to market.

Requirements

  • MS or PhD in Food Science, Biophysics, Chemistry, Material Science or relevant Engineering discipline, ideally with 1+ years of industry experience.
  • Advanced knowledge of food chemistry, protein chemistry, ingredient functionality and interactions, and model system design is required. Familiarity with food processing techniques, food microbiology, and food safety fundamentals is a plus. 
  • Superb technical problem solving and analytical skills and excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Demonstrated experience in experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation.
  • Personal attributes include being adaptive, resourceful, self-motivated, curious, independent, and thrive in a collaborative and fast-paced environment.
  • Exposure to a variety of food processing technologies and how they can influence functional properties of macromolecules is a plus. 
  • A deep passion for food and its importance in human & planetary health in line with the Shiru values.
At Shiru, we're looking for people with passion, grit, and integrity. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. We’re expecting your skills and passion to stand out—and set you apart—especially if your career has taken some extraordinary twists and turns. Please join us in this singular opportunity to create the future of food!  
Shiru is an equal opportunity employer who values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Shiru offers competitive compensation and employee benefits along with an attractive equity package commensurate with candidate qualifications.

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