Director of Strain Engineering

Job Title:

Director of Strain Engineering About Switch Bioworks

Based in San Carlos, CA, Switch Bioworks is redefining bioproduction through programmable microbes. Beginning with agriculture, we are developing nitrogen-fixing microbial consortia that live directly on crop roots. This replaces expensive, carbon-intensive synthetic fertilizers with a living alternative that reshapes the economics and sustainability of farming.

Our edge lies in our namesake “switches” - synthetic control systems that activate target metabolism only when and where it’s needed. By combining microbial ecology with advanced genetic control systems, Switch is building a platform that is transforming how biological products are used and deployed, with an initial focus on farmers and agriculture.

As Director of Strain Engineering, you will define the strategy and lead the execution of Switch’s strain and consortium engineering platform. You will drive strain engineering to high-throughput and faster DBTL cycles, applying modular genetic circuit design, automation, and new construction and screening methods to non-model organisms that lack off-the-shelf genetic tools.

You will manage and develop a high-performing team of exceptional scientists, own an annual budget, own delivery across strain engineering work streams supporting both an internal pipeline and external R&D partnerships, and serve as the technical lead for strain engineering in partner-facing discussions.

We are looking for a leader who has successfully developed and scaled a team. This role involves hands-on lab work; you will be at the bench regularly, leading by example, running and troubleshooting experiments alongside your team.

This position reports to the Chief Scientific Officer.

Platform: Architect and build out Switch's bacterial strain engineering platform, establishing a modular circuit design and construction platform that integrates a design-build-test-learn infrastructure, together with the registry, LIMS workflows, standardized SOPs, and data systems that connect them. Own the capability roadmap and the build-versus-buy decisions behind it.

Chassis and Genetic Tools: Set chassis strategy for non-model organism bacteria, and direct the tool development required to support it: DNA delivery, editing and integration systems, inducible and constitutive expression parts, and counter selection markers, ensuring genetic tractability is never the constraint on where the pipeline can go.

Pipeline Impact: Define the circuit and metabolic engineering strategy for improving bacterial strain performance against product-defining metrics, and be accountable for engineered strains advancing through growth chamber, greenhouse, and field evaluation.

Partnerships: Partner with CBO and CSO to own technical strategy and delivery across strain engineering work streams supporting external partnerships, meeting milestones on schedule and serving as the technical authority for your area in partner-facing reviews.

Cross-functional Delivery: Partner with process development on manufacturability, formulation on delivery constraints, and plant science and field teams on phenotype-to-field translation. Shape the experimental designs that cross these boundaries rather than handing off strains.

Intellectual Property: Partner with Senior Counsel and CSO to build and protect the IP underpinning the platform. Identify patentable inventions as they emerge, and design with freedom to operate and the regulatory pathway in view.

Budget: Under guidance from the CFO and CSO, build and manage your team’s annual budget: headcount plan, capital equipment, consumables, external services and software.

Team: Build the strain engineering organization to meet a…