Associate Scientist, R&D

IFF Health and Biosciences is looking for an Associate Scientist in our Microbiome & Microbiology R&D group. Our IFF state-of-the art labs are located within the Experimental Station research site in Wilmington, Delaware. The successful candidate will be responsible for working with a highly interactive multidisciplinary research team. The successful candidate will need to be willing to learn new techniques and technologies and have the flexibility to carry out multiple assignments.

Responsibilities:

This position is in a technical services lab in support of our Animal Nutrition business and will be part of multidisciplinary teams within a large community of microbiologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, computational biologists, and biochemical engineers. The successful candidate is expected to learn new techniques and have the flexibility to carry out multiple assignments. The ability to work in a very interactive team environment is required, as is a passion for science and technology.

The work will involve one or more aspects of the following:

• Development and execution of microbial functional assays (inhibition assays, biofilm assays).
• Enrichment and isolation of microbes from environmental and animal tissue samples (e.g., water samples, poultry gastrointestinal tracts, organ tissue, litter samples, etc.).
• General lab organization, project planning, and task coordination among team members.
• Experience / Expertise with Bacteriocin assay.
• Use of high-throughput techniques and robotics.
• Interactions with business representatives.
• Writing reports and /or presenting results.
• Genetic characterization of strains using molecular biology and bioinformatic tools (PCR, qPCR, RAPDs, BioNumerics).

Job Requirements

Qualifications:

• M.S. in microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology or related field.
• 2+ years of laboratory research experience in these fields.
• The successful candidate must be motivated, creative, have strong problem solving and critical thinking skills to meet technical objectives and milestones.
• Experience with high throughput screening is desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the desire to work as a bench-scientist within a multidisciplinary team are required.
• Sterile techniques and experience in the isolation and cultivation of microorganisms, preferably with experience in an anaerobic environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge of basic microbiology, molecular biology, microbial genetics, and biochemistry techniques.

* Successful candidate would need to stay in this position for minimum of 3 years.