Junior​/Associate Scientist

Early career opportunity in our Oxford research labs

Job Post

About Moa

Moa Technology is an innovative and rapidly growing crop protection R&D company.
Our mission is to create a new generation of safe, effective and affordable herbicides to help farmers produce high quality food for all. Our team of passionate and talented scientists, technicians, and operational staff uses disruptive proprietary technologies to quickly and accurately discover novel modes of action capable of breaking weed resistance to herbicides.
At the heart of our company are the Moa values which guide our work and our behaviour: determined, empowering and transformative.

The role

This is a full time role at either Junior Scientist or Associate Scientist level (depending on your experience) in our High Throughput Screening (Galaxy) team in Oxford, playing a crucial role in executing manual and automated in vivo high throughput screening assays for the identification of molecules with herbicidal activity using liquid handling robots. The team conducts high throughput screening testing up to 25,000 compounds a month on tiny living plants to establish if each compound is effective and may have a novel herbicide mode of action.

You will be responsible for working in a busy HTS laboratory to conduct compound screening and profiling, using state-of-the-art liquid handling robots and imaging tools. Your role will be laboratory based with responsibilities including:

• Day to day running of liquid handling robots for screening
• Using standardised protocols on state-of-the-art high content microscopy imaging tools
• Providing support to users of HTS instrumentation.
• Maintaining accurate and timely records of laboratory work (e.g. electronic lab notebooks).
• Clearly communicating results, successes and issues.
• Executing objectives and targets agreed with management and team leads, delivering work efficiently and effectively in line with company goals.
• Following written or established protocols under appropriate supervision, carrying out routine experiments accurately and making basic interpretations of results.
• Analysing data from established workflows, apply sound judgement to routine next steps, and elevate questions or concerns appropriately.
• Working in accordance with company policies, procedures, health and safety standards, and applicable regulatory or legal obligations.
• Contributing to reports, SOPs, lab meetings etc.
• Working collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams.
• You may also be involved in other activities to help the smooth running of our operations.

Knowledge and experience

Required

• At the Junior Scientist level either:
  • Degree in biology, biochemistry or a related subject

OR

• A-Levels including Biology with ~1-2 years’ relevant laboratory or industry experience.
• At the Associate Scientist level, where more independence is expected, you will require:
• Degree in biology, biochemistry or a related subject and 1-2 years’ relevant laboratory experience.
• A master’s qualification may be advantageous but is not essential.

OR

• A-Levels including Biology, with 3-4 years’ relevant laboratory or industry experience.
• Good understanding of relevant scientific concepts and principles, with willingness to develop knowledge further through on-the-job learning and training.
• Computer literate with excellent communication skills
• Experience working with various MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, MS Teams/Zoom etc
• Experience in plant research
• Experience using high-content microscopes
• Experience working using aseptic technique
• Experience with programming tools such as R and Python

Personal attributes and competencies

• A strong work ethic and willingness to learn on the job.
• A practical problem solver with stamina
• Honesty, openness and a team player mentality.
• Resilience and good organisation skills.
• Courage to question any actions incompatible with our collective values.
• Keenness to evolve with the changing needs of the business on a rapid growth trajectory.
• Willingness and ability to adhere to company ethics, work hours, policies, and standard business etiquette.
• Work proactively and increasingly independently in a dynamic team and people from diverse backgrounds.
• Meet deadlines,…