Strain Engineering Research Associate/Senior Research Associate

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 Role At Shiru, we express diverse functional food proteins in microbial strains and evaluate them to identify hero food ingredients. We are looking for an enthusiastic and detail-oriented Research Associate to join our Strain Engineering team. You will work closely with Shiru’s scientists and engineers to design, execute, and improve our strain engineering workflows. As a key member of an early stage multi-disciplinary team, you will have ample opportunities to learn cutting-edge science in a collaborative environment, hone your laboratory and scientific decision-making skills, and contribute to our collective mission with ever-increasing autonomy.
About You You are an enthusiastic and hyper-organized self-starter. You keep a list of your lists, and checking items off of them gives you a great sense of satisfaction. You find yourself “in the flow” when you are working with your hands and at the bench. Your curiosity and attention to detail help you spot problems, ask questions, and identify solutions. Your positive mindset and collaborative attitude make you a great team player. You have excellent interpersonal and time-management skills, and a passion for science, food, and sustainability.

Responsibilities

• Routinely design and construct DNA expression cassettes and maintain DNA parts libraries
• Design, build and test microbial strains that produce diverse functional food proteins
• Troubleshoot existing molecular biology protocols, develop new strain engineering hypotheses, and support the development of new processes
• Keep a detailed electronic record of results using Electronic Notebook and Laboratory Inventory Management Systems and design digital templates to increase the efficiency of data capture, analysis, and distribution
• Analyze and summarize data in the form of short reports and brief presentations
• Maintain a safe working environment
• Note: the title and scope of this role may scale based on experience

Attributes

• You enjoy working on scientific problems and applying your analytical and problem-solving skills
• You bring a positive attitude to individual and collaborative projects
• Good organizational habits and time-management skills
• Ability to work independently and troubleshoot resourcefully; you’re not afraid to make or discuss mistakes and you’re keen to continuously improve your skills and the quality of your work
• Excellent communication skills and a demonstrated ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• You expect your work to be meaningful, and strive to be part of a business dedicated to having a positive impact on the planet

Requirements

• A.S./B.S. degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, or a related discipline; with 1+ yrs industrial experience
• Experience using aseptic technique
• Experience in molecular biology techniques such as PCR, plasmid/DNA design, DNA sequence analysis, microbial transformation, and microbial culture
• Experience in protein expression engineering, synthetic biology and genome editing preferred but not required
• Solid foundation in math and experience using common software (e.g. MS Excel or similar) for data processing

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.