Director, Fermentation Process Development

The Role: 
As our Director, Fermentation Process Development, you will be playing a vital role in developing and implementing our mycelium fermentation process in order to make the core ingredient for Meati products. This position is a key member of the fermentation leadership team as a voice for the technology, setting direction for multiple teams, establishing R&D processes and targets, and helping achieve aggressive timelines. We are looking for a highly experienced fermentation scientist with previous industrial experience, strong relationship management, project management, and strategic thinking. You have experience with aerobic fermentation, strain development, benchtop fermentation, and scale-up. This role reports to the Sr. Director, Fermentation R&D and works out of Meati’s Headquarters in Boulder, CO.

Responsibilities:
•    Leads the Strain Development and Process Development teams in developing product improvement initiatives, including enhanced volumetric productivities, media formulation, and enhanced product functionality
•    Manages and mentors Fermentation, Strain Development, R&D, QA, and operations team members to ensure the effective organization of departmental workflows and utilizes technical consultants to support project objectives where needed
•    Influences the fermentation landscape by maintaining key strategic relationships with many top suppliers while keeping up with the latest fermentation innovation
•    Works in partnership with the Fermentation Scale-up, Operations, and Engineering teams to foster and maintain relationships, support commissioning of all Meati manufacturing facilities and lead major initiatives that address complex functional and technical issues
•    Identify manufacturing gaps, technical issues, and problem solves in collaboration with scale-up team. Responds to internal escalation of issues and manages sensitive matters related to stakeholders. Makes timely recommendations and decisions that have a substantial impact on resources and organizational effectiveness.
•    Work closely with QA team in the development,  implementation, and maintenance of systems and processes to support the quality of the organization’s products and fermentation processes

Qualifications: 
•    Bachelor of Science in biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, or equivalent
•    10+ years of technical experience in the fermentation industry (R&D, operations, engineering)
•    Fermentation experience at lab and pilot scale
•    5+ years experience managing teams and demonstrated ability to lead and develop a department and department staff members
•    Strong project management skills; results-focused with impactful execution and follow-through; highly detail-oriented
•    Excellent communications skills and ability to work effectively with personnel at all levels including presenting to executive team
•    Strong interpersonal skills and experience with managing vendor and manufacturer relationships
•    Must be on site in Boulder or Thornton Colorado

Nice-to-haves (but not required):
•    MS or PhD in biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, or equivalent
•    Exposure to strain development
•    Experience managing teams with varying technical disciplines (fermentation, strain development, engineering, etc)
•    Preferred experience in commercial facilities with greater than 10,000L reactors
•    Fermentation experience working with fungi

**Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Meati™ we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.**

Compensation: 
$150-200K including a potential annual bonus and equity. Actual pay will be adjusted based on experience. 

Successful applicants for this position must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Vaccine verification will be required prior to the start of employment at Meati.