Manager of Molecular Biology & Cloning

Amai Proteins is the tasty Designer Protein company. Amai (means ‘sweet’ in Japanese) Pro-Protein platform combines: (a) Agile-Integrative Computational Protein Design (AI-CPD) to design proteins that are fit to the mass food market as to stability, taste, and other attributes; (b) precision fermentation production in an array of host organisms and (c) food technology to assess the Designer Proteins and integrate them to consumer-packaged goods. In this framework, Amai assesses numerous proteins in an array of host organisms from small lab-scale to very large industrial scales.

As the Manager of Molecular biology and Cloning, you will manage, give technical leadership and support the molecular biology and cloning team as well as collaborators and external vendors. You will design, manage, execute, and analyze results related to the protein cloning in different microorganisms. You will apply an array of molecular biology tools to optimize organisms for expression of Amai’s different Designer Proteins. The position entails some hands-on laboratory work.

Reports To:

The Manager of Molecular biology and Cloning will report to the Director of Biotechnology.

Job description:

• Stay abreast of technical advancements in the cloning area of microbial cell line development.
• Apply technical knowledge and expertise in cell line development (cloning, cell banking and testing, clone selection, cell line stability testing, etc.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners in fermentation and downstream process development to advance the expression and purification processes.
• Lead the molecular biology aspects within Amai’s integrated multidisciplinary R&D team on all aspects of bringing a product to the market.
• Deliver technical support to ensure successful cloning and testing the expression in small and pilot scales.
• Lead, support and manage the molecular biology team.
• Lead and support various elements of clone optimization.
• Analyze, interpret, present, and document technical information related to cloning, sequence and development data and related aspects focused on regulatory, IP, collaborative and other R&D efforts.
• Work with contract development manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to help define project scope, review proposals, and oversee technical work, including reports’ review and approval.
• Contribute to process regulatory strategies and submissions, and quality documentation.

Requirements:

• PhD in biology, biochemistry, biochemical engineering or related field.
• A minimum of two years’ experience of relevant process development for protein production.

Experience with clone optimization and selection, in various organisms.

• Demonstrated capability to work independently on complex technical problems and, in parallel, demonstrated capability of working effectively in cross-functional teams, and with external CDMOs and partners.
• Experience planning, generating, analyzing, and linking experimental capabilities and results to critical USP objectives.

Knowledge/Skills:

• Expertise in molecular biology and cloning into bacteria and eucarya.
• Knowledge of CMC biologics upstream processes.
• Working knowledge of proteins’ microbial cell line development workflows.
• Ability to apply technical knowledge to clone development and banking across the product life cycle.
• Ability to collaborate with and lead effectively cross-functionally and in a team setting, both internally and with external CDMOs and partners.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced dynamic environment while delivering high quality work.
• Sets goals with understanding of priority and impact to the program, department, and organization.
• Creative thinker and complex problem solver.
• Must have outstanding interpersonal relations and team working capabilities.