Senior Fermentation Scientist - Sumitomo Biorational

Company Overview

Headquartered in Libertyville, Ill., Sumitomo Biorational Company is the Global Center of Excellence for Biorational Innovation, advancing integrated, science-driven solutions in agriculture, public health, forest health, and environmental markets. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., it operates through three divisions:
Agro Solutions, Environmental Health (MGK), and Public Health & Forest Health, leveraging decades of expertise to drive innovation and sustainability for customers worldwide.

Lead internal upstream process development efforts at the Biorational Research Center by conducting fermentation experiments in laboratory- and pilot-scale bioreactors, evaluating the performance of microbial strain candidates, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop sustainable biorational solutions within Bio Agriculture.

• Design and implement upstream processes to optimize strain performance of bacterial and fungal microorganisms to produce microbial products, metabolites, and proteins
• Mentor junior team members by training safe and proper use of fermentation and analytical equipment required to execute process development and improvement experiments
• Provide guidance to research associates and support their professional development
• Take primary responsibility for the operation and troubleshooting of pilot scale fermentation equipment
• Design scale up and scale down experiments to execute seamless technology transfer between Research and Manufacturing operations
• Build strong relationships with supporting research departments and deliver fermentations on time or ahead of schedule to biology, downstream processing, formulations, and product development teams
• Travel to manufacturing site to launch new fermentation processes and troubleshoot current commercial processes
• Maintain and further develop collaborative relationship with the pilot and production fermentation team at the manufacturing site
• Execute sophisticated process development experiments utilizing statistical tools to ensure process robustness
• Work alongside data scientists, IT, and engineering to build and maintain a digital system to organize and archive run data and electronic batch records
• Maintain and update laboratory data and documents including electronic lab notebook and SOPs
• Conduct all work in strict compliance with all applicable safety requirements, containment requirements, standards operating procedures and/or guidelines while maintaining a clean and orderly workspace
• Work both independently and with interdisciplinary research teams while maintaining a positive and collaborative environment

• Expertise in culturing microorganisms, including filamentous fungi, to increase metabolite productivity using aseptic techniques
• Hands‑on experience using lab‑scale or pilot‑scale SIP bioreactor systems for microbial cultivations and metabolite production, particularly with non‑model bacterial and fungal organisms
• Experience training junior scientists in the use of fermentation equipment and execution of process development experiments
• High degree of competency in the Microsoft Office 365 suite and statistical analysis software
• Strong communication, presentation, and listening skills in cross‑functional teams
• Willingness to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion
• Able to lift up to 25 lbs

Degree in Fermentation Science, Chemical/Biochemical/Biosystems Engineering, or closely related field with industrial fermentation experience (5 years with PhD, 8 years with MS, 12+ years with BS).

Limited travel will be required (