Sr. Scientist, Formulations - Material Science & Chemistry

Indigo is a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. With a vision of creating a world where farming is an economically desirable and accessible profession, Indigo works alongside its growers to apply natural approaches, conserve resources for future generations, and grow healthy food for all. Indigo’s Biological Products, Marketplace, and Carbon offerings improve grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health. Indigo Marketplace is a platform connecting growers with a network of buyers to secure optimal prices for their crops and offers hands-on control of a grower’s business through a range of pricing tools, real-time national bid discovery, and automated grain sales. Indigo Carbon, is a platform paying growers for increases in soil carbon content and decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. It helps growers realize additional revenue, healthier soils, and a more resilient farm by participation in a market of high-quality carbon credits – supported by rigorous quantification standards. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA, with additional offices in Memphis, TN, Research Triangle Park, NC, Basel, Switzerland, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil.

Indigo’s Biological Products organization develops products based upon our deep understanding of the plant microbiome. The company has commercialized such products for cotton, wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, and rice in North America, Latin America, and Europe under the biotrinsic™ brand. Our R&D and product development teams are working to continue to develop products that address the growing number of abiotic and biotic stresses that crops experience worldwide.

Indigo’s Formulations group is seeking an energetic Scientist/ Senior Scientist to join our team and aid in the advancement of microbial-based agricultural products that improve stress tolerance and crop yield using micro-organisms isolated from the plant microbiome. The Scientist/ Senior Scientist Formulations will work with other scientists and engineers to develop stable seed treatment formulations containing live micro-organisms. The candidate should possess a fundamental understanding of materials and chemistries used to stabilize micro-organisms. An understanding and hands-on experience with industrial seed treatment formulations and equipment is a plus. It is expected the individual will develop seed treatment formulations and be able to evaluate these formulations using laboratory and commercial-scale seed treatment equipment.  

The Scientist/ Senior Scientist Formulations is a laboratory-based position and will conduct experimental design, benchtop laboratory work, and data analysis as well as communicate their findings to a variety of audiences. This candidate will be expected to conduct work independently as well as guide research staff as needed. The candidate will perform work that is in line with the development of commercially scalable and cost-effective formulations that can be effectively transferred from lab to commercial use.

The candidate should possess a Ph.D. with 0 to 10+ years of industrial experience in the area of materials science, chemistry, or chemical engineering with a solid understanding of microbiology, biochemistry, and/or molecular biology. 

The ideal candidate for the Scientist/ Senior Scientist Formulations will have practical expertise in the following areas:

• Formulation and coatings chemistry particularly for the biological stabilization of micro-organisms
• Wet chemistry skills for the preparation of seed treatment formulations that meet target chemical and physical characteristics
• Fundamental mechanisms of dormancy, stabilization, or preservation of micro-organisms
• Understanding and operation of seed treatment equipment
• Design of experiments and ability to develop experimental plans based on product requirements

Responsibilities include:

• Product development of new microbial seed treatment formulations
• Identify and work with external suppliers to select appropriate materials that meet the requirements for seed treatment formulations
• Assess the suitability of new formulations for seed treatment from the laboratory to commercial scale in both scale up and scale down experiments
• Operation of lab and commercial scale seed treatment equipment
• Support technical transfer of new products to the Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams
• Write standard test methods as well as develop new test methods that appropriately characterize new products
• Act as a technical point of contact and internal consultant for formulation related topics

The candidate should also possess the following qualities:

• Ability to work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
• Flexibility and acceptance of change
• Keen interest in understanding complex biological and chemical systems
• Observant with strong attention to detail
• Perform laboratory work in a clean and safe manner
• Collaborative by nature, “Team Player”
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

 We’re building the technology to feed the world and fight climate change. We believe that through teamwork we can achieve more to benefit all of agriculture: from farmers to consumers to the planet. Game changers don't fit in a box. The requirements listed above are examples of what we think enables success in this role, but we recognize the impossibility of fully capturing a singularly perfect description, and we believe in the power of diversified and creative displays of skills and qualifications. We embrace unconventional. We embrace creativity. We embrace a challenge to the status quo. If the specifications in the list below aren’t an exact match... great! Apply, be you, and be proud that you aren’t ordinary (we certainly aren’t!).

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status