Algal Physiology Scientist

Viridos is a privately held biotechnology company mitigating climate change through low-carbon algae biofuels. Our unparalleled understanding of algal genetics and ability to translate innovation from lab to field underpins our initial deployment: a scalable platform to produce low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (RD) based on hyper-productive Viridos algae. 

We are looking for an Algal Physiology Scientist for our Algal Strain Assessment team to design and implement experimentation regarding the underlying limitations to biomass and lipid productivity within our strain assessment platform.  These efforts will support the continued improvement of strains and process toward the goal of providing feedstock for sustainable liquid fuels (sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel).

Responsibilities:

• Probe bioengineered strains throughout the strain assessment process and work with research teams to design experiments to quantify limitations within experimental systems (including photobioreactors and open ponds)
• Determine opportunities to overcome above limitations through identification of novel phenotypes for strain development or operational improvements for process changes
• Work closely with an interdisciplinary team to design experiments, analyze data sets, summarize and communicate results.  
• Instruct and provide guidance to Research Associates and Sr. Research Associates
• Maintain a culture that is passionate about delivering results to further our algal biofuels program

 Required Skills:  

• Demonstrated background in phycology, microbiology, or similar field with experience at larger scales/volumes  
• Understanding of genetic and physiological basis regarding stress response and impacts on productivities (biomass/lipid)
• Knowledge of photobioreactor systems with understanding of key variables such as light field, carbon assimilation, media formulation etc.
• Familiarity with methods to determine algal health and stress including PAM fluorometry, Flow cytometry and others
• Proven ability to independently manage several distinct projects simultaneously
• Establish methods and procedures and provide guidance to other personnel
• Must possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills to facilitate interactions with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Phycology, Bioengineering, Microbiology, Biotechnology, or related life fields and 0-2 years of relevant postdoctoral or industrial experience.  Candidates with a master’s degree and sufficiently pertinent and demonstrable experience will also be evaluated
• Organized, highly motivated, innovative professional with critical thinking and problem-solving skills to independently design, execute, troubleshoot and analyze experiments

Estimated base salary range for a Scientist is $100,000 - $120,000. Should the level of the role change during the hiring process, the applicable salary range may be updated as well.