- Work with the IBioIC Facilities & Operations Manager and Scale-up Business Development Manager, and wider technical team, to design and support leading activities ranging from technology transfer, process optimisation and protocol development within the areas of fermentation and upstream bioprocessing.
- Manage, plan and execute industry-led fermentation projects at pilot scale.
- Lead on the interpretation of data, while consulting with other members of the project team and with internal technical and academic teams.
- Work on multiple projects at various stages in parallel, providing updates on project progress and timelines to clients and to IBioIC management.
- Manage and mentor junior staff, ensuring their workload is prioritised accordingly and are supported with CPD activities.
- Lead weekly lab facility meetings with the wider team to improve common working, solve problems and mediate improvement to team and facility operation.
- Ensure a safe environment for staff and create and review risk assessments and Process COSSH for projects
- Attend client meetings at short notice and be able to ask technical questions to explore clients current process understanding and develop prospective work package programmes based on expert knowledge.
- Input into funding applications for additional capital and resourcing opportunities.
- Work closely with colleagues in the downstream processing (DSP) team to ensure work is well coordinated.
- Network effectively and be comfortable meeting new people whilst being able to interact in a professional manner, for example prospective clients in the facility and at external events.
- Engage in continuous professional development.
- Ensure knowledge and expertise within the team fit the wider IBioIC strategic aims
- Accommodate and facilitate preventative maintenance and repairs of equipment within the facility, liaising with suppliers to troubleshoot problems
- Design and lead Upstream Bioprocessing training course for industrial and academic attendees.
- PhD or MSc in Microbiology and Fermentation and/or significant experience working in a senior role in the area of precision fermentation/upstream bioprocessing and microbiology, appropriate for the level of G7/8. (G8)
- Experience of operating stirred tank bioreactors (semi-pilot scale e.g. 1L-50L) (G8)
- Strong technical knowledge and hands-on experience of microbiology and precision fermentation (G8)
- Excellent customer relationship management, time management and oral/written communication skills.
- Hands-on experience with a broad range of cell types (e.g. E. coli, Bacillus, Pichia, microalgae, fungi, plant, human/animal)
- Experience of working in industry and/or with industry-led projects.
- Experience of having to implement relevant health and safety legislation and procedures.
- Experience of supervising staff and / or students and mitigating conflict. (G8)
- Experience of precision fermentation or cell culture scale-up to 100 litre+ in stirred tank bioreactors
- Able to evidence having to employ mathematics to assist scale-up (e.g. kLA, sheer stress, impellor tip speed) (G8)
- Experience of programming fermenters with cascades to control air, pH, feed regimes
- Experience of preventing and troubleshooting contaminations.
- Experience of mammalian cell culture
- Experience of complementary analytical techniques to support fermentation operations.
- Experience of fermentation within the developing sectors of circular economy and valorisation
- Experience of laboratory administration including ordering supplies and equipment, maintaining databases & spreadsheets, costing and recharging of facilities.
- Experience in the design and delivery of technical training courses and preparation of training materials (presentations, equipment demonstration).
- Knowledge of Downstream Processing techniques and typical unit operations within a bioprocessing laboratory.
Research Associate/Research Fellow in Fermentation - Midlothian, United Kingdom - Heriot-Watt University
Description
Role: Senior Fermentation Scientist/Manager
Directorate: School of Engineering & Physical Sciences
Salary: Grade 7 (£36,023-£45,585) or Grade 8 (£45,585-£56,021)
Contract Type: Full Time (1FTE), Fixed Term (July 2029)
Detailed Description
IBioIC are seeking to appoint a full-time Senior Fermentation Scientist / Manager for a period of 5 years who will be responsible for management of the fermentation (Upstream Bioprocessing) projects that are performed within the FlexBio (The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre's (IBioIC) Bioprocessing Scale-up facility within the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) and within the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering (IB3).
The role will be partly lab and partly office based and primarily involves ensuring fermentation and scale-up projects are conducted for industry and academic clients in a safe, professional, timely and organised manner. The role holder is expected to work with the wider Scale-up team (including downstream processing team), facility manager and IBioIC management team to ensure the Scale-up facility facilitates the commercialisation of biotechnology projects and company from lab scale to pilot scale using a fee-for-service model of operation.
As a technical expert in the field of fermentation and microbiology, the role holder is required to take responsibility for all day-to-day aspects of fermentation project scoping, planning, execution and analysis, as well as being the point of contact for industry and academic clients during project execution. The role includes management of technical staff, with responsibility for their personnel management, training and development, as well as hands on participation in technical tasks as determined by the workload and technical expertise required.
The role holder will be line managed by the FlexBio Facility and Operations Manager.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
The post holder will be required to:
Education, Qualifications and Experience
Essential Criteria
Desirable Criteria
About our Team
Hosted within the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering (IB3), FlexBio provides clients with the expertise and equipment to carry out semi-pilot scale fermentation and downstream processing. This includes microbial cultures up to a scale of 30 litres and various downstream processing techniques to separate cell and/or molecules within the fields of industrial biotechnology, bioeconomy/biomass processing, and enzyme/peptide/small molecule purification.