Senior Fermentation Scientist Alternative Protein Venture in Leipzig bei FoodLabs & Atlantic Labs

ABOUT THE VENTURE

We are a newly-founded biotech company on a mission to unlock the potential of fermentation to revolutionize the way the world interacts with our oceans. We are creating the next generation of seafood alternatives.

Our team is united by a shared passion for our mission, combining scientific and business skill sets to create a fast-paced and collaborative culture! We are backed by one of Europe’s leading food-tech and sustainability VC investors. We are based in Berlin and Leipzig.

Our core beliefs:

• We believe that innovation and the practical application of cutting-edge science are the only way to protect our ocean ecosystems, combat climate change, and meet the world’s growing demand for protein.

• We believe that a mission-focused team and a collaborative, idea meritocracy is the most effective way to drive innovation and achieve our objectives.

• We believe that to succeed, alternative protein products need to be tasty, healthy, sustainable, and affordable.

YOUR ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

We are looking for a Senior Fermentation Scientist to join us in harnessing the power of fermentation technology to create the most sustainable, healthy, and tasty seafood alternatives in the world! This is an opportunity to create practical solutions to some of the biggest problems facing our world: protecting ocean ecosystems, climate change, and meeting the world’s growing protein requirement. Join us to help shape the future of the global food system!

You will work with our scientific co-founder to develop and innovate our fermentation process for creating seafood alternatives that people and oceans will love! You will be the first key hire in our scientific team with exciting opportunities to play a pivotal role in shaping our company. You will have the opportunity to develop our upstream and downstream processes, and grow and learn alongside our company.

Your main tasks:

• Design, plan, and execute fermentation experimental work at bench and pilot scale bioreactors

• Data acquisition, processing, and analysis of bioprocess data

• Support the team in the scale-up effort of the upstream bioprocess and develop intangible assets e.g. patents

• Support planning for further lab expansion and project requirements

• Engineer new reactors to improve the growth of strains through fermentation

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

Required skills and experience

• A passion for our core mission

• Ph.D. or equivalent, and/or M.Sc. (with relevant industry experience) in Chemical engineering, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Bioprocess engineering, Biochemical engineering, or a similar field

• Proven experience in fungi biotechnology:

  • Designing high-quality experiments, including analysis of fermentation bioprocess data

  • Fermentation-related R&D in a wet and sterile lab environment (lab bench, pilot, and preferably commercial-scale bioreactors)

  • Working with bioreactor bioprocesses using liquid or solid-state fermentation, including bioprocess data generation and analysis

• Experienced in physical-chemical methods to analyze solid and liquid samples as well as familiarity using GC and HPLC

• Confident in managing and analyzing big datasets with R, phyton, Matlab, or similar

Additional skills/qualities that will be useful/preferred:

• 
  Hands-on and proactive mindset, with strong problem-solving skills

• Confidence to drive workstreams independently in a fast-paced and challenging environment

• Excellent communication skills in English (German is not required, but is a plus)

• Experience valorizing side-streams from the food or related industries

• Skilled in mass balance analysis or bioprocess modeling skills