Strain Engineer

About:

General Biological (GB) is a pioneering industrial chemical and hardware manufacturing company developing the next generation of scalable, low-cost biomanufacturing technologies. Our mission is to establish a new era of industrial chemical products and physical materials derived from carbohydrates vs. hydrocarbons - to build the 21st century refinery. For more, see here: (

Central to our approach is vertical integration - working at the intersection of biotechnology, chemistry, and integrated hardware-software engineering to scale fast. The GB platform harnesses a non-model organism with remarkable metabolic flexibility and low sterility requirements, enabling us to truly industrialize biotech. By building custom bioreactor hardware and downstream operations, we fully leverage these properties to dramatically reduce capital and operating costs while accelerating execution.

Position Summary:

We are seeking an exceptional Strain Engineer to drive the development of our non-model bioproduction platform. Your primary responsibilities in this role will revolve around engineering our microbial production host to produce targeted specialty and commodity chemicals. You will work with a team of scientists and work alongside engineers to develop and optimize protocols for iterative strain engineering, evaluation, and deployment.

The ideal candidate will help drive GB's success by engineering metabolic pathways to hit target production metrics for molecules of interest at pilot scale using various alternative feedstocks. This role involves hands-on work, protocol development, and problem-solving - requiring a first principles mindset and willingness to take calculated risks.

As GB pursues vertical integration, you will have exciting opportunities to contribute to interdisciplinary project teams working on end-to-end hardware and process solutions. We are looking for someone who thrives on project ownership and velocity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Engineer production strains through knowledge of metabolism, genetics, or cellular physiology
• Execute standard molecular biology techniques (PCR, molecular cloning, gel electrophoresis, transformation, adaptive laboratory evolution)
• Build screening protocols to assess strain performance, with supervision from team
• Collect, analyze, and present data from experiments
• Must be motivated to work with little oversight and learn quickly in a fast-paced environment
• Must be willing to work non-standard hours, including weekends as needed, to support operation

Required Qualifications:

• B.S., M.S, or PhD in molecular biology, metabolic engineering, strain engineering, or a related field
• Prior experience in a laboratory setting developing and executing assays
• Attention to detail, data-driven mindset, and strong work ethic all required.
• Experience with chemical engineering/process development of any kind is a plug
• Startup experience is a plus!

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones
• Hands-on experience with bioprocess optimization in addition to strain engineering
• Practical experience with large-scale fermentation and chemical processing equipment

What We Offer:

• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• A collaborative and innovative work environment
• The chance to make a significant impact in the field of chemical production

If you are passionate about applying your engineering expertise to develop groundbreaking solutions for the chemical industry, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity at General Biological.