Research Scientist - Synthetic Biology

Living Carbon is a public benefit corporation with a mission to responsibly rebalance the planet’s carbon cycle using the inherent power of plants. We believe that gigaton scale CO2 drawdown will only happen if solutions are both beneficial to the environment and profitable to landowners. We’ve developed photosynthesis-enhanced seedlings that capture carbon faster on underperforming and degraded land. In addition to improving carbon capture rates we are also working on extending the durability of nature based sequestration. We’re backed by some of the most prominent investors in Silicon Valley including Felicis Ventures, YCombinator, and Chris Sacca of LowerCarbon Capital.

If you believe that climate change is the defining global emergency of the century and want to join an ambitious project that’s working on a biological solution, we’d love to hear from you.

Your role:

We are seeking a creative and detail-oriented individual who’s excited to be part of a mission-driven early stage company. As Research Scientist, you will apply your specific experience in synthetic biology to work within the Research & Development group at Living Carbon. The successful candidate will be both a strong lab-based individual contributor and a team player who works well with other scientists. The candidate will contribute to key discovery studies which will have a direct impact on the success of our biotech programs to advance company goals.

Your responsibilities:

• Lead the discovery effort to identify algal genetic components to facilitate bioengineering of sporopollenin synthesis in algal cells
• Build and optimize workflows for algal genetic parts assembly, transformation, genotyping, and phenotyping
• Develop synthetic biology tools to facilitate quick testing of biological designs in algal cells 
• Collaborate closely with scientists across different functions and disciplines to rapidly iterate through design-build-learn cycles
• Design and test novel pathway engineering strategies to enable and improve the production of sporopollenin in algal cells
• Participate in cross-functional activities for project teams, including hand-offs, data analysis and presentation at project meetings
• Stay abreast with the relevant current literature and its application on synthetic biology especially in the area of algal biotechnology
• Draft and review technical reports and publications

Requirements and qualifications:

• Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, synthetic biology, or related fields with 0-2 years of industry experience, or Masters with 5+ years industry experience
• Expertise with molecular cloning techniques including traditional cloning involving restriction enzyme digestion and DNA ligation, seamless cloning methodologies, PCR, transformation, and sequence analysis is required
• Expertise in recombinant protein expression design, production, purification, and activity analysis is required
• Prior experience of experimental planning and execution to engineer strains for the production of desired molecules is desirable
• Deep understanding of metabolic engineering principles, enzyme engineering, and high-throughput screening is desirable
• Experience in algal cell culture and transformation techniques including sterile technique, cell culture, transformation, cell assays, and cell isolation is desirable but not required
• Working knowledge of HPLC, LC-MS, and GC-MS analysis is desirable but not required
• Strong organizational skills, record keeping and interpersonal communication skills (verbal and written)
• Demonstrated ability to work well in a highly collaborative team environment, coordinate tasks across multiple projects to meet deadlines
• Entrepreneurial behaviors demonstrated by agility, accountability, transparency, resourcefulness, and ability to get things done
  
  

Living Carbon PBC offers competitive compensation, and generous healthcare, dental and vision insurance.

Living Carbon PBC is an equal opportunity employer.

We believe the best solutions to climate change are created by diverse teams. Living Carbon is focused on building a multicultural and inclusive team with strong representation from the many diverse communities disproportionately impacted by climate change. As a public benefit corporation, ensuring solutions to slow climate change are widely distributed to all peoples is critical to the success of our mission.