Metabolic Engineering Lead
Build a microbial engineering platform for bio-based specialty chemicals used in industrial and consumer-product applications.
About the role
The company is developing a biological route to specialty chemical ingredients that are currently produced through petrochemical supply chains. As the founding biology lead, you will choose the first host-pathway strategy, build the DBTL workflow, and turn early chemistry and process assumptions into a strain-engineering plan. The company is still small, so the role includes hands-on scientific direction, vendor decisions, lab setup, and hiring input.
- Team: Founding biology hire partnered with process and chemistry leaders
- Stage: Seed-stage climate biocatalysis company with pilot customer design work underway
- Reporting line: Chief Technology Officer
- Experience: PhD with 8+ years in microbial strain engineering, industrial biotech, or metabolic engineering
- Rhythm: Mostly onsite in Houston with flexibility around vendor and partner travel
Responsibilities
- Select the first production host, define the lead pathway design, and decide which strain-engineering bets are worth building first.
- Set up design-build-test-learn workflows that connect molecular biology, fermentation readouts, analytical chemistry, and clear go/no-go criteria.
- Work with chemistry and process leaders so strain design, purification approach, feed strategy, and scale-up assumptions stay aligned.
- Manage vendor selections, outsource early pipeline stages to CROs where appropriate, and configure foundational laboratory systems.
Requirements
- PhD with 8+ years of industry experience in microbial strain engineering, metabolic engineering, industrial biotechnology, or a closely related field.
- Track record engineering production pathways in yeast, E. coli, Bacillus, or relevant non-model microbial hosts.
- Strong command of DBTL workflows, pathway bottleneck analysis, host/chassis trade-offs, and analytical methods used to judge strain performance.
- Experience translating titer, yield, productivity, or pathway-bottleneck targets into practical fermentation, purification, or pilot-scale development plans.
- Comfort owning vendor decisions, budgets, hiring plans, or lab buildout work in a small-company environment.
Preferred qualifications
- Knowledge of gas fermentation or climate-tech specific biological utilization strategies.
- Prior experience modeling flux pathways or employing 13C flux analysis metabolomics.
Technical stack
- metabolic pathway design
- chassis/host selection
- genome editing
- benchtop fermentation
- titer/yield/productivity analysis
- HPLC/GC-MS/LC-MS
- flux analysis
- techno-economic analysis
- external CRO management
What we offer
- Base salary: $175k - $215k
- Equity / upside: Founding-level equity with clear participation in future refresh and leadership reviews.
- Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), flexible PTO, and relocation for a strong build-stage candidate.
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