Organism Engineer 3

Our Microbial Engineering team of Organism Engineers (OEs) is the core of Ginkgo’s strain engineering platform. We believe biology is a unique engineering substrate that comes pre-loaded with startlingly brilliant code we didn't write. Enabled by our high-throughput foundry, we study and design the most efficient way to create a new organism using the most advanced molecular biology techniques. We also employ various -omics technologies for understanding, troubleshooting, and debottlenecking our designed systems.

We are looking for a highly talented and motivated Organism Engineer 3 with expertise in yeast biology, genetics, and strain engineering to join our strain development processes. OEs contribute to the full design, build, test, learn cycle: from designing and constructing strains to evaluation of strain performance, pathway optimization, troubleshooting, and re-design.

Responsibilities:

• Design and engineer yeast strains to optimize production of high-value compounds and bio-based materials
• Develop suitable cultivation conditions and high throughput assays for screening the performance of developed strains
• Test the metabolic and physiological performance of developed strains
• Analyze data to identify limitations and bottlenecks in the performance of your strains and iteratively re-design and improve strains based on learnings
• Use software and leverage high-throughput robotics to assist in strain construction and screening
• Collaborate with multiple stakeholders across Ginkgo to design, plan and execute demanding strain engineering and screening campaign

Minimum Requirements:

• Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 3 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD without experience; or equivalent work experience. PhD in microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, chemical or biological engineering or related field.
• Proven experience in yeast engineering and synthetic biology, with a track record of successful strain construction and optimization
• Experience developing and/or troubleshooting methods for complex and difficult genetic engineering targets
• Experience with high-throughput screening and data analysis
• Excellent written and verbal communication and collaboration skills
• Enthusiasm for pushing the boundaries of synthetic biology and making biology easier to engineer

Preferred Capabilities and Experience:

• Experience with automated workflows, instrumentation (i.e. walk-up liquid handling robots, multi-plate readers), and software (i.e. Laboratory Information Management System or LIMS, electronic lab notebooks)
• Experience with at least one programming language (Python preferred)

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