Scientist - Non-Model Organism Engineer

Carbon Drop is on a mission to tackle climate change at a truly impactful scale, with a goal to capture gigatons of CO2 per year at a cost orders of magnitude lower than current technologies. Our novel approach takes advantage of photosynthesis to enhance carbon capture and sequester CO2 at the gigaton scale over geologically-relevant timescales. Carbon Drop aims to capture CO2 at the scale required to allow a carbon neutral energy future to emerge without compromising food sources or world economic development.

• Develop transformation and gene delivery methods for organisms with no established genetic toolkit, from first attempt to a routine, documented protocol
• Establish and characterize the parts that make engineering possible: selectable markers, promoters, terminators, and reporters
• Onboard genome engineering tools and associated assays for a non-model organism
• Work collaboratively in a team science environment with exceptional molecular biologists, strain engineers, biochemists and phycologists
• Conduct wet lab experiments, data analysis and communicate results to the team
• Assist in the build out of our laboratory environment for growing modified organisms, performing molecular biology and physiological experiments, with a particular focus on high-throughput solutions
• Document hardware design, experimental details and findings
• Help team members perform their research projects in a collaborative manner, maintain research equipment and maintain and order reagents

• PhD degree in molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, synthetic biology, or a related field
• Demonstrated experience developing molecular tools for a non-model organism of any kind (taken an organism from intractable to workable)
• Have established a transformation protocol that other people now use routinely
• Have experience with genome editing in a system where it had not previously been demonstrated
• A track record of conducting results-driven research
• Experience in collaborative interactions and completing projects with multiple participants
• Comfortable working without a protocol to follow - disciplined about knowing when cut your loses or double down
• Entrepreneurial and innovative mindset with a demonstrated history of developing or implementing new ideas/technologies within a company or academic lab environment
• Self-starter who excels at managing multiple deliverables simultaneously and thrives in a fast-paced startup and research environment
• Strong communicator, both verbally and written

• Have worked with more than one organism that lacked a toolkit and can compare what transferred between them and what did not
• Have tissue culture, regeneration, or clonal propagation experience in a slow-growing or multicellular organism
• Have experience working with photosynthetic organisms (plants, algae, cyanobacteria)
• Have >3 years of industry experience
• Are comfortable running common analytical instruments including gel electrophoresis equipment, flow cytometers, and/or plate readers

Compensation for this position is commensurate with research experience, academic credentials, relevant qualifications and other job related skills. The salary range for this position is $120k-150k. We also offer equity in an early-stage startup and the benefits listed below.