Scientist/Senior Scientist, Synthetic Biology

Scientist/Senior Scientist, Synthetic Biology

Birch Biosciences is a startup company based in Portland, Oregon that engineers enzymes for plastic recycling. Engineered enzymes act as “molecular scissors” to break down plastic polymers in a high yield, circular process that enables manufacture of high quality, 100% recycled plastic products. Our bio-enzymatic recycling process is low cost, high yield, and reduces CO2 emissions by > 50%. Plastic demand is expected to triple by 2050, so our plastic problem is only going to get worse unless we do something about it.

We’re looking for a synthetic biologist to help us build and operate a novel protein engineering technology stack that enables iterative development of high performance enzymes.

Job responsibilities

• Design and construction of complex enzyme variant libraries using oligo and gene based-assembly methods

• Single cell genome/transcriptome amplification and sequencing

• Apply next generation sequencing as a tool for library design verification and microbiome RNAseq

• Screen large protein variant libraries using microfluidics, FACS, or similar methods

• High-throughput protein expression and characterization

• Protein modelling and analysis of large protein variant data sets to assist in the training of statistical models

• Design, construct, and optimize in vivo reporters to detect enzyme activity

Qualifications

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in bioengineering, molecular biology, or a related field

• 6+ years of laboratory experience

• Excellent attention to detail

• Excellent communication skills

• Passion for solving hard technical problems

We’re committed to creating opportunities for applicants from diverse backgrounds that can contribute to our mission. If you don’t have all of the pre-requisite skills, experience or degrees, please send us an application—we’d love to evaluate your skill set and see if there is an opportunity for us to work together!