Sr Research Associate​/Scientist, Enzyme Development

Enzyme Development Sr. Research Associate / Scientist I

The Enzyme Development Sr. Research Associate / Scientist I joins an interdisciplinary team working on the biocatalytic foundation of Zymochem. The successful candidate will work in a fast-paced, goal-oriented environment and advance their career at the cutting edge of synthetic biology. We are looking for you if you are a curious problem-solver with an interest in the nuts-and-bolts of challenging biocatalysts.

We also want a collaborative spirit, who will support multiple stages in the R&D pipeline. The successful candidate will exercise both their knowledge and creativity to characterize Zymochem's C2 pathways and engineer improvements in them.

Responsibilities

• The primary responsibility of this role will be to own the execution of enzyme characterization and engineering campaigns – primarily in the lab, but also with computational tools. Within 3 months you will become familiar with Zymochem's standard workflows for protein characterization and engineering. Within 6 months, you will be owning the DBTL cycle for your own projects, with guidance and mentorship from the broader team.
• Design
  - Connect sequence-structure-function with computational tools, and use this to design the DNA library that will be used in the protein engineering campaign.
• Build
  - Library construction, cloning, and QC.
• Test
  - More than 50% of your time will be spent testing proteins. This will include both library screening and protein purification + characterization. Additional responsibilities in this role will be developing and refining high-throughput screens, and using Automation to improve assay throughput.
• Learn
  - Integrating the data from the protein engineering & characterization into testable insights to inform further improvements. You will then work collaboratively with Biology, Strain engineering and Fermentation teams to apply those insights to improve strain productivity.

When conducting these specific responsibilities, you will be expected to perform research with experimental rigor and to communicate the findings clearly.

• Gather and analyze data, discuss with team members to develop next steps and new ideas, and present findings to the broader team.
• Clearly document and maintain laboratory notebooks and computer documentation and protocols
• Research, read, comprehend, and summarize relevant scientific literature to support work, contribute to optimization of projects and to explore new technologies or strategies for improvement.
• Participate and contribute ideas in group and project meetings or with other internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist with basic technical document revision and support scientists or engineers for projects, publications, and patents.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, (Bio) chemical Engineering, or related field.
• 1-6+ years of relevant industrial experience. Leveling dependent on overall experience between education and work experience.
• Essential skills and hands-on experience are in the specific operations of protein characterization and engineering:
• Need to possess solid knowledge of biochemistry, enzyme mechanisms, and reaction dynamics.
• Need to have strong basic molecular biology skills for cloning (PCR, Gibson, Golden Gate, etc.). Experience making medium or large libraries a plus.
• Experience in protein purification, biophysical characterization and enzyme kinetic characterization.
• Experience developing new assays and / or troubleshooting existing ones.
• Experience developing and executing screens & selections for collections of proteins (low-, med-, or high-throughput).
• Strong data analysis skills. We want you if you can integrate a lot of disparate data into a coherent picture, and if when the data leads you to a hypothesis your intuition is to plan an experiment to test it.
• Nice-to-have skills that support this (let us know if this is you, but none are required):
• Experience connecting sequence, structure, and function with SOTA computational tools (Eg. Rosetta, Schrodinger Bio Luminate, etc.).
• Experience sifting through large databases (eg. NCBI, metagenomic databases) to identify…