# Metabolic Engineering Lead

Live page: https://affinitytalent.bio/jobs/metabolic-engineering-lead-biocatalysis

## Role summary

- Seed-stage climate biocatalysis company
- Houston, TX, US
- On-site · Lead
- Compensation: $175k - $215k + meaningful equity

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.

## Role details

- 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
- Business goal: Build a microbial platform that can show whether the first bio-based chemical route can meet pilot-relevant cost and performance targets
- Near-term deliverable: Select the production host, define the lead pathway build plan, and set the first titer, yield, and productivity targets.

## Responsibilities

- Platform strategy: Select the first production host, define the lead pathway design, and decide which strain-engineering bets are worth building first.
- DBTL architecture: Set up design-build-test-learn workflows that connect molecular biology, fermentation readouts, analytical chemistry, and clear go/no-go criteria.
- Project integration: Work with chemistry and process leaders so strain design, purification approach, feed strategy, and scale-up assumptions stay aligned.
- Sourcing and external management: 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.

## Useful experience

- Gas fermentation or climate-tech biological utilization strategies.
- Flux modeling or 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.