Associate Scientist

Verb Biotics is a new company built on Ginkgo Bioworks’ biotechnology platform with the goal of improving overall human health through probiotic (“biotic”) technology that provides consumers with an “I feel the effect” experience. Our products target specific health indications. We intentionally design & engineer “biotic” solutions to address a clear “mechanism of action”. We are building a passionate team of health and wellness experts seeking an Associate Scientist to help develop and test new products.

This role is for you if …

• You are excited by the prospect of a highly technical role combining microbiology and fermentation science to develop breakthrough solutions
• You have a passion for microbial fermentation with a specific emphasis on novel lab-scale fermentation and process development.
• You are a tenacious problem solver who seeks to understand and leverage the role of microbes for human health and wellness.
• You developing cutting-edge safe microbiome-based solutions for consumers is work that excites you.

Job Summary

Getting in on the ground floor, the Associate Scientist will have the unique opportunity to take part in building and helping in the scale-up of next-generation consumer pre-, pro-, and postbiotic products by utilizing cutting-edge biotechnology. In this role, you will help to support our mission through the development of our product pipeline and testing of products. The ideal candidate has experience in microbiology, lab-scale fermentation, media preparation and optimization, and the operation of analytical instruments. As Verb Biotics is a start-up company, the Associate Scientist will wear many hats which are key in supporting a winning company culture.

Core Responsibilities

Areas of responsibility include the development and advancement of probiotic and postbiotic products and application testing for Verb ingredients

• Identify, grow, and characterize microbial isolates in various media types and fermentation conditions
• Develop culturing, analytical, and bioanalytical assays to identify microbial metabolites
• Develop novel microbial fermentations with a specific emphasis on lab-scale fermentation and process development
• Researches, develops, tests, and validates applications of Verb ingredients in customer-specific formulations
• Execute production application testing as directed by the Senior Scientist and CTO
• Works with QA Manager to run prototype formulations and stability testing trials

Work diligently to get the job done, effectively and efficiently including on a tight deadline without drama or ego. We are a dynamic startup whose priorities may need to shift.

Qualifications & Skills

• Experience in a Microbiology laboratory setting and strong aseptic techniques.
• B.S./B.A. in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biology, or related field, with 2+ years of experience
• Prior experience with bacterial culturing, bioreactors, fermentation development, culture assays, DNA isolation and preparation, and comfort handling various sample types, which may include human stool, skin, etc., preferred.
• Familiarity with HPLC (High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography) or similar analytical techniques in a laboratory setting.
• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently in a small team or independently.
• Willingness to learn new techniques and applications.

Nice-to-have

• Experience with fermentation scale-up and commissioning state-of-the-art fermenters.
• Experience with microbial culture harvest and recovery techniques including cell rupture and clarification via centrifugation/microfiltration
• Skilled in the application of biochemical assays and analytical instrumentation

Verb Biotics Core Values

• We develop and market efficacious products that have a positive impact in people’s lives
• We are smart and resourceful to achieve collective goals
• We have genuine and respectful relationships with
• We enjoy what we do and take pride in our work

It is the policy of Verb Biotics to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.

About Ginkgo Bioworks –

Ginkgo (www.ginkgobioworks.com) is a high-growth biotech company that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, material, and more. Our mission to “make biology easier to engineer” is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative data, automation, and scale capabilities in biological engineering. In coordination with the $350M Ferment Consortium, Ginkgo concepts and spins out new ventures built on the Ginkgo synthetic biology platform and has most recently launched a new company to disrupt the field of probiotics and functional nutrition, Verb Biotics.