Living Carbon is hiring an Associate Director of Plant Transformation to lead plant transformation across our Hayward, CA and Charleston, SC labs. As a senior leader at the company, the Associate Director of Plant Transformation will be a key member of the R&D leadership team. This role will play a central role leading the development of the company’s capabilities in genome engineering and the production of transgenic and gene edited events for product creation.
Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Plant Biology or related field with at least 8 years of industrial experience in plant tissue culture and transformation, or equivalent education and experience
- Track record of R&D productivity, accomplishments, and team management experience
- In depth knowledge and hands-on experience in tissue culture and transformation of multiple plant species
- Demonstrated experience developing transformation protocols for challenging plant species, including trees
- Working knowledge and experience in protoplast isolation, manipulation, and regeneration
- Demonstrated record of streamlining the process of production transformation within project timeline
- Ability to perform data and statistical analysis with the focus to establish, guide, and improve SOPs in the functional area
- Strong, effective, and detail-oriented problem-solving skills to navigate and troubleshoot complicated technical and non-technical issues
- Experienced people manager with demonstrated strong interpersonal skills with an ability to build effective working relationships within functional area
- Strong communication and organizational skills to lead and support efficient cross-functional collaborations to help advance company projects
Responsibilities
- Direct and lead plant transformation protocol development and process optimization
- Design, guide, and execute lab experiments on both technology development and event production
- Maintain urgency in technical execution of projects while overcoming critical hurdles to drive company progression
- Plan and forecast timelines on event generation and delivery to support company’s decision making process; responsible for managing timelines and deliverables
- Drive effective communication and information sharing (knowledge, protocols, materials, etc.) among team members across multiple lab locations
- Manage, grow, develop, and mentor the team of plant transformation scientists including team leads and individual contributors
- Work closely with our Chief Science Officer and project leaders on resource allocation, task management, risk identification and mitigation strategies to ensure project needs are met
- Communicate both verbally and in writing with cross-functional project teams, management, and other stakeholders to ensure progress updates are provided and objectives are met on time
- Collaborate effectively with colleagues on the development of protocols, SOPs, quality control processes, data archives as well as the analysis of results and troubleshooting
- Stay abreast of current developments in the field of plant tissue culture, transformation, and genome engineering. Synthesize learnings to improve the company’s transformation process
- Some travel is expected for this role as the team is currently located in both Hayward, California and Charleston, South Carolina.