Metabolic Engineering Lead
Establish the metabolic engineering capabilities and platform infrastructure for a seed-stage specialty chemicals biotechnology startup.
About the role
As a foundational biology hire, you will oversee the strategic design and technical execution of our metabolic engineering platform. Responsibilities span selecting organism chassis, structuring the laboratory environment, and executing the scientific roadmap alongside the process and chemistry functions.
- Team: Founding biology hire partnered with process and chemistry leaders
- Stage: Seed-stage company with pilot customer design work underway
- Reporting line: Chief Technology Officer
- Rhythm: Mostly onsite in Houston with flexibility around vendor and partner travel
Responsibilities
- Determine initial production host systems and define rigorous engineering approaches for metabolic pathway development.
- Implement data-driven screening paradigms spanning synthetic biology design, analytical chemistry, and performance testing workflows.
- Work synchronously with chemistry leadership to integrate engineering designs with product purification and downstream processing demands.
- Manage vendor selections, outsource early pipeline stages to CROs where appropriate, and configure foundational laboratory systems.
Requirements
- PhD with extensive industry experience leading strain engineering platforms within Metabolic Engineering or Industrial Biotechnology fields.
- Demonstrated expertise in engineering complex molecular pathways inside non-model organisms or relevant industrial strains (e.g., Yeast, E. coli, Bacillus).
- Solid command over translating theoretical yields and pathway constraints into practical, scalable production paradigms.
- Experience in strategic planning, budgeting, team building, or operational oversight within an early-stage startup context.
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
- 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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