Principal Synthetic Biologist

CK Group is recruiting a highly motivated and experienced Principal Synthetic Biologist to join a growing biotechnological company in Newcastle on a three‑month fixed‑term contract with scope to be made permanent. This is an excellent opportunity to work in a cutting‑edge field with a company at the forefront of biotechnological research and to be part of a visionary team developing solutions for tomorrow's challenges.

A newly formed biotechnology organisation with state‑of‑the‑art microbial engineering facilities, focused on building a biological and digital platform for biological assets supply chain management.

Design, execute, validate and iterate complex chromosomal engineering programmes in microbes. The successful candidate will take a biological objective from concept through engineered strains, sequencing‑based validation, and interpretation under stress or evolutionary conditions.

• Design and execute scarred and scarless chromosomal integrations across diverse microbes (e.g.
  
  E. coli,
  
  B. subtilis, P. putida, S. cerevisiae, etc).
• Perform multi‑round, multi‑locus genome engineering without marker exhaustion.
• Actively use and help configure ELN and/or LIMS systems to track strain lineages, construct versions, sequencing data.
• Scientifically direct outsourced bioreactor work end‑to‑end (design, oversight, QC acceptance and interpretation) without being the hands‑on operator of the reactors.
• Design DNA‑seq and RNA‑seq experiments aligned to engineering questions and perform data interpretation.

• PhD in synthetic biology/engineering biology with industry experience.
• 5–10 years of hands‑on experience in microbial strain/genetic engineering.
• Demonstrated expertise in chromosomal (not plasmid‑only) modification.
• Mastery of scarred and scarless genome editing techniques (CRISPR selection: Cas9/Cas
  12a DSB).
• Hands‑on user of Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) and/or Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) in a synthetic biology or strain engineering environment.

• Multi‑host experience across Gram‑negative, Gram‑positive and yeast systems.
• Sequencing‑first engineering mindset.
• Prior experience in industrial or production‑adjacent strain development.
• Familiarity with lab automation and digital lab systems.

Applicants must hold entitlement to work in the UK. Please quote job reference (Apply online only) in all correspondence.

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