Senior Analytical Chemist

Today, major companies are incentivizing the clear cutting of rainforests, child slave labor, and polluting the air to supply the world with the most beloved ingredient on the planet, chocolate. California Cultured is here to bring the joy back to eating chocolate. We are developing the technology needed to make better chocolate for the world through cell-based methods. Our mission is to improve the world’s chocolate supply with a chocolate that is mouthwatering, sustainable, and better for you.

California Cultured is looking to add a Senior Analytical Chemist to our team to help us strengthen and broaden our understanding of the products and technologies we are in the process of developing. The ideal candidate would have 5-7 years industry experience with chemical analysis or biochemical screening, with an emphasis on HPLC, GC, and colorimetric assays. This person should be comfortable working independently as well as in a team environment and should have strong communication skills. This position will collaborate extensively with the California Cultured Team and report directly to the CEO of the company. You will interact with all departments regularly and should be able to effectively communicate with respect with all coworkers & managers and to encourage and support your fellow workers to achieve the mutual objective of excellence and customer satisfaction.

Duties include:

• Preparing, analyzing, and tracking samples, processing data and communicating results with the cell culture team

• Plan and direct Analytical Chemistry research for projects involving advanced analysis for known and unknown compounds in microbes, plants, and other complex sample matrices

• Design and conduct experiments utilizing a variety of mass spectrometry analysis techniques

• Computational analysis of metabolomic data

• Perform metabolomics analyses to investigate metabolite exchange between community members and identify plant exudates that sustain rhizosphere communities

• Analyze and interpret data collected, form conclusions, and write technical reports

• Performing routine maintenance on the instruments and any necessary troubleshooting to resolve one off issues

• Researching and onboarding new methods of analysis to be used for new applications needed for R&D pipeline

• Ongoing optimization of current methods to stay current with new approaches and technologies

• Obtaining new instrumentation when it is needed and developing key relationships with sales and technical support reps at major suppliers

• Experience working with plant-based systems and secondary metabolite production/isolation

• Lead chemical and/or physical testing on primarily polymers including documentation and reporting for application and product development

• Direct in routine control programs (round robins, collaborative testing, product characterization, etc.)

• Develop new or improve existing analytical and physical procedures focusing on polymer testing, (i.e. UV/Vis, FT-IR, tensile, HPLC, GPC, GC, tensile, rheology, Vicat etc.)

• Make recommendations regarding the capability of the equipment. Recommend new equipment or accessories as needed

• Lead and direct statistical analysis techniques to further interpret the data obtained from these methods

• Set up new laboratory at new facility location

• Perform routine maintenance on equipment

• Other duties as assigned

About You

• MS or PhD in Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Cell Biology, or equivalent with demonstrated application of mass & heat transfer, biochemical principles, and solution physical chemistry concepts in food and/or bioprocess technologies.

• Applicants with a PhD and 3 years of industry experience are preferred, MS with 4-6 years of industry experience, in the technology field

• Hands on experience in development and optimization of novel cell culture medias and high-throughput screening systems with a basic understanding of bioreactor operations and scale-up

• Proficiency in cell-based assays such as metabolic flux analysis, and metabolite quantitation as well as spent media analysis

• Experience working in a GMP environment preferred

• Excellent project management, communication, and interpersonal skills

• Demonstrated strong background to lead technically driven projects, and ability to effectively work in cross functional teams, meet deadlines, and prioritize multiple projects

• Track record of successfully leading small teams to achieve project goals

• Accurately summarize, interpret, and review experimental data with adequate computer skills for data acquisition, data management and visualization of experimental results

• Use of DOE and related software to design and analyze experiments

• High level of initiative to solve problems and ability to multitask

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and organizational skills, with impeccable attention to detail

• Physical chemistry concepts in food or bioprocess technology: 1 year (Required)

• Cell-based assays: 1 year (Preferred)

• Management/team leadership: 1 year (Preferred)

• GMP: 1 year (Preferred)

• Development and optimization of novel cell culture medias: 1 year (Required)

• Legally authorized to work in the United States