Research Scientist - Microbial Discovery

Position Title: Research Scientist - Microbial Discovery

Position Type: FTE

Job Location: BiomEdit Laboratories in Greenfield, IN

Company Overview: BiomEdit is a microbiome company that discovers, designs, and develops novel probiotics, microbiome derived bio-actives and engineered microbial medicines to address unmet needs in animal health. We partner with Ginkgo Bioworks to amplify and accelerate product discovery and development with a goal of introducing breakthrough innovation for livestock producers and veterinarians.

Position Summary: BiomEdit is seeking a highly motivated Research Scientist to support the development of novel live bio-therapeutics, engineered microbe for in situ delivery of bio-actives, fermentation products, and microbial-derived bio-actives to address unmet needs in animal health. This position will be actively involved in microbiome discovery research with the following goals: to build microbiome knowledge base to better understand the role of microbe(s) in microbial communities, to generate hypotheses for microbiome-based interventions, and to develop next-generation microbiome based products for animal health. The Research Scientist will use his/her skills and knowledge in Anaerobic Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiome Science to design and execute experiments to advance translational microbiome-based intervention candidates from bench to clinical trials on a preset timeline. This position will report to a Microbial Discovery Research Lead and is a laboratory-based position. The Research Scientist will be required to have routine interactions with discovery, computational science, development, regulatory, and marketing teams within BiomEdit.

Functions, Duties, Tasks:

·Perform high throughput microbial isolation, identification, and in-vitro microbial strain characterization work with the focus on an anaerobic platform.

·Experience working with anaerobes and proficient in anaerobic techniques. Proven experience in growing fastidious anaerobes (i.e. gut microbes, methanogens). Prepare and maintain bacterial (anaerobe and aerobe) and fungal cultures. Additional experience with anaerobic microbial fermentation is a plus.

·Conduct various phenotypic and biochemical assays to study microbial physiology and metabolism.

·Develop genetic systems and strain engineering for non-model anaerobes.

·Perform multi-omics analysis of microbial community to understand the role of members of microbiota on certain observed phenotypes. The analyses include 16S/18S/ITS amplicons sequencing, whole shotgun metagenomic sequencing, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, and metabolomics.

·Maintain and keep track of clinical samples, microbial isolates, and microbiome samples inventory.

·Lead or participate in multidisciplinary research teams executing projects/programs of work sponsored by various internal and external partners.

·Serve as a subject matter expert in microbiome science, microbial physiology and metabolism, and microbial strain engineering.

·Design, execute, troubleshoot, and assist protocol development, and proactively find ways to increase efficiency and automate processes as applicable.

·Keep abreast of scientific literature in microbiome field and implement novel modalities and protocols.

·Excellent record keeping.

·Actively support a culture of high accountability to the sponsor through values and behaviors and actions.

Minimum Qualification (education, experience and/or training, required certifications):

·Ph.D. in anaerobic microbiology (preferred), microbial physiology and metabolism, microbiome science, biochemistry, biochemical engineering, synthetic biology, or related fields with research experience in anaerobic microbiology, microbiome science, and strain engineering.

Additional Preferences:

·Working experience with automation systems (e.g. liquid handler, automated DNA extraction platforms)

·Knowledge and hands-on experience on microbiome research and NGS that include microbiome sample collection/inventory and microbiome profiling.

·Knowledge on basic bioinformatic skills (i.e. SQL, phyton/perl programming, genome assembly/annotation, microbiome analysis).

·Excellent oral and written communication skills

·High personal ethical and quality standards

·Capability to manage multiple tasks and projects

·Strong interpersonal skills

·Working knowledge of vaccines/pharmaceutical/biotherapeutics regulatory environment in US and/or EU

·Working knowledge of the USDA and GMP vaccines/pharmaceutical/biotherapeutics manufacturing environment

BiomEdit, LLC. is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.