Department: Innovation & Technology

Location: Renewable Innovation Center - Lexington, MA 

Travel Involved: 0-5%

Job Type: Hybrid 

Description:

Braskem, a global leader in the production of bio-based materials, has recently opened a new renewable research and development facility in Lexington, MA. This new 35,000 SFT facility will bring together scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines to ideate and develop novel technologies for the production of bio-based chemicals and materials.

Braskem America is seeking an exceptional, highly motivated metabolic engineer/pathway discovery Research Associate to work on cutting edge technology in the renewable chemicals space. The successful candidate will execute wet-lab research on the discovery, testing, and engineering of biochemical pathways in the context of milestone-driven, microbial strain engineering projects. Strong technical, organizational and communication skills are essential.

The ideal candidate will be a member of a team tasked with the laboratory development of novel biochemical pathways to produce renewable chemicals and materials. Within this context, the candidate will be responsible for executing experimental technical programs in the wet lab.

Additional Responsibilities and Activities Include:

• Execution and delivery of wet-lab research required to deliver commercially viable microbial production strains.
• Genetic engineering of yeast and bacteria
• Construction of DNA constructs
• Documenting experimental procedures and results
• Validating new laboratory methods

Requirements:

The ideal candidate will have deep and broad knowledge within the fields of microbial metabolism, metabolic engineering, and molecular biology. Creativity, entrepreneurship, initiative and good critical judgment are essential for this role. Strong technical and interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively with other scientists. Demonstrated excellent verbal & written communication skills.

Required Skills, Education, and Experience: 

• B.S./M.S. in Metabolic Engineering, Microbial Physiology, Biotechnology, Microbiology, or related.
• 0 - 5 years of industrial experience.
• Strong background in microbial physiology, metabolic engineering, pathway discovery, and biochemistry.
• Laboratory experience engineering microbial strains for the production of small-molecules and/or proteins.
• Must be highly motivated with exceptional communication and teamwork skills.
• Experience with high-throughput molecular biology techniques and the use of lab automation is a plus.
• Experience with computer programing languages (Python, C , Matlab) is a plus.