VP/Director, Research & Development

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead R&D Discovery - Take over aspects of the core R&D strategy for discovery in service of meeting our KPI goals for the critical path of our first product, Beta-lactoglobulin – to meet or exceed the KPIs as laid out by strategic partner ADM and manufacturing goals for 2020-2025. Principally direct the prioritization of the R&D Discovery platform, leading the Strain Engineering, Strain Screening, Strain Physiology, and Analytics Departments, to focus on creating long term solutions directly addressing the critical path, to successfully achieve the KPI goals for the production of high quality Beta-lactoglobulin over the next five years.
• Build Strain Physiology – create a systems based approach to improving the physiological understanding of the host production organism, (i.e.. metabolomics, proteomics, genomics,) to prioritize innovative designs for meeting project timelines; integrating that understanding into strain design principles in a robust manner; and work hand in hand with team leads across the organization to communicate understanding, design principles, planning and execution in a manner that is focused and in alignment with company strategy.
• Report to CTO - Serve on the ELT, may be asked to report to BOD; strong participation in company strategy decisions with C-Level and influencers; [See Org Chart and Peer Structure below]
• Strong Influencer company-wide-strategy
• o   Work closely with our team leads to support cross functional teams in alignment with company strategy; influencing Fermentation process and prioritization, providing a vision for Data Engineering and Data Sciences, and the larger Data Driven Decision Making Matrix
• o   A key focus of the role is to provide strong technical leadership coupled with equally effective project management skills.
• o   This person will keep abreast of and influence technology trends, standards, and stakeholders which will further enhance adoption and market share of PD's solutions,
• o   Work in tandem with the other members of the executive team as well as the marketing team to further define our intellectual property, trade secret, technology platform, and product strategies and deliver against it.
• o   This person will have the ability to bridge technology with business acumen, will bring experience in developing industry leading products, and will develop and sustain a culture of passion, hard-work, and innovation that will make PD the place to be for anyone interested in developing global solutions for our immediate and long term future.
•  This person will be responsible for the recruitment of top tear world class talent. and create the proper organizational structure to drive high performing development teams to deliver these solutions to the market with relentless execution.

• Culturally - Align with our core values, vision, and mission; work hard to maintain an open-mindset culture that is driven by a healthy balance of our company strategy and data driven decisions
• Up to 10% travel may be expected at times to meet with internal and external partners, CROs, CMOs, etc.., for strategic alignment, license negotiations, and reporting updates.

QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD in related field is highly preferred.
• At least 10 years professional experience. Industrial experience is a must. Experience leading seminal discovery programs, academic and industrial, in a wide variety of disciplines is required.
• Experience in the direct utilization of strain physiology for the prioritization of strain engineering strategy is ideal, building scientific and engineering programs from the ground up is very good,
• Strong track record of success in synthetic biology required, with strong experience in the production of proteins using filamentous fungi strongly preferred; experience with a variety of other microbial systems is a plus
• Experience and appreciation for scale-up challenges associated with synthetic biology and product delivery through manufacturing is a big plus.
• First-hand Analytics experience is required, strain metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, genomics, and other related experience is required, analytical chemistry of protein quality and quantitation is a big plus.
• Have an end-to-end understanding of Project Management.
• Ability to deliver multiple complex projects simultaneously with strong attention to detail.
• Executive level interpersonal, project management, writing, communication and problem-solving skills. Prior experience reporting to Senior Management or Board of Directors is a plus.
• Prior success handling / executing multiple high impact, fast paced/collaborative projects.
• An outstanding problem solver who is solution-oriented and has a genuine interest in helping.
• Comfortable with operating in a fast-paced environment and dealing with ambiguity. Proactive and resourceful.
• Demonstrated leadership and collaboration skills and ability to form effective partnerships with cross-functional, sometimes remote teams.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.
•   Ability to travel up to 10%.