Associate Process Development Engineer

Associate Engineer

Founded in 2013 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Zymergen is a technology company unlocking the power of biology. We deliver better economics for products made from biology that are used across industries, bring new products to market faster, and develop novel products. Our proprietary platform uses robots and machine learning to engineer microbes faster, more predictably, and to a level of performance previously unattainable. These microbes, and the products they produce, have broad applications across industries such as chemicals and materials, agriculture, and healthcare. For more information visit www.zymergen.com.

Job Description and Specific Responsibilities

Zymergen is hiring an Engineer to support our Products Division in conceiving, developing and transferring production processes of Zymergen’s fermented novel molecules to commercial scale. As a member of the Process Development & Scale Up team, the incumbent will support and execute experiments in the DSP Laboratory, as well as providing support for process development across scales and transfer of processes between sites.

An ideal candidate for this position will perform the following duties:

• Perform downstream processing (DSP) experimentation at lab scale to support commercially-scalable process definition and development
• Analyze test samples and/or prepare samples for internal and external analyses
• Prepare material and samples for external shipment
• Interface with other Zymergen teams, such as Fermentation Lab, Analytical Chemistry, etc., to successfully execute and support experiments
• Support the growth and maintenance of the DSP Laboratory, especially with respect to equipment, software, physical storage (of chemicals, equipment, glassware, etc), and organization
• Support Zymergen scale-up testing at external CRO/CMO and equipment vendor facilities as necessary. Travel of 0-10% required.

Qualifications/Experience

We favor candidates with the following:

• BS in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry or relevant field and 2+ years of industry lab experience.  Excellence and high achievement in previous technical and non-technical work
• Experience with or ability to operate a range of laboratory-scale equipment for unit operations such as cell isolation, extraction, liquid-liquid and liquid-solid separations, distillation, drying, filtration, crystallization, chromatography, etc
• Preference to work in the lab long term
• Rigorous attention to detail in experimental execution
• Ability to clearly document and execute on complex experiments
• Ability to maintain a clean and neat lab/bench space and respect a shared work space
• Familiarity with basic statistical concepts
• Knowledge of chemical engineering principles and familiarity with fermentation and biochemical processes

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in the SF Bay Area, Zymergen is a science and material innovation company rethinking biology and reimagining the world. A World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, Zymergen partners with nature to create never-before imagined materials and products across industries – from agriculture to consumer electronics, personal care to pharmaceuticals, and more. The company’s materials are in use today, creating value for Fortune 1000 companies and major corporations across the globe. Our clients have sold over $1 billion worth of products using Zymergen microbial strains. For more information visit: www.zymergen.com.