Senior Scientist - Strain Engineering

PreferCo · India

Role Description We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Senior Scientist to lead our Strain Engineering team. The role combines scientific leadership with active bench science: defining strain and platform strategy, designing and executing experiments, scoping development programs, and translating product opportunities into technically rigorous strain-development plans. The candidate will work closely with fermentation, downstream, regulatory, leadership, and external collaborators to advance programs from concept through scale-up readiness. 

Key Responsibilities  

Strain Engineering Leadership & Hands-on Science  

• Lead the design, construction, screening, and optimization of microbial production strains using hosts such as E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris/Komagataella phaffii, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, filamentous fungi, and other relevant organisms. 
• Remain hands-on at the bench as needed across cloning, DNA assembly, CRISPR/Cas engineering, transformation, strain verification, pathway engineering, expression optimization, and strain screening. 
• Develop engineering strategies to improve titer, productivity, yield, robustness, genetic stability, secretion/folding, tolerance, and other product-specific attributes. 
• Ensure rigorous strain lineage, construct, sequence, and performance documentation to support reproducibility, technology transfer, regulatory needs, and future IP protection. 

Scientific Strategy, Platform Decisions & Program Scoping  

• Lead early technical assessment of new product opportunities and select appropriate hosts, chassis, expression systems, pathway architectures, screening approaches, and development sequences. 
• Make and document strategic platform recommendations, including build-versus-license decisions. 
• Translate business or product objectives into detailed scientific proposals. 
• Define clear success criteria for proof-of-concept, strain optimization, fermentation handoff, pilot readiness, and technology transfer. 

Technology Evaluation, IP & FTO Support  

• Evaluate external strains, chassis platforms, genetic toolkits, expression systems, and strain-engineering technologies for technical fit, scalability, access, and commercial relevance. 
• Conduct preliminary patent, publication, and freedom-to-operate landscaping to identify relevant patent families, technical restrictions, licensing considerations, and areas requiring formal legal or specialist IP review. 
• Support technical due diligence of licensors, collaborators, academic groups, and technology providers; identify potentially patentable internal advances and maintain appropriate invention-supporting experimental records. 

Team Leadership & Cross-functional Development  

• Lead and mentor strain-engineering scientists and research associates; set priorities, review experimental plans and data, troubleshoot programs, and build scientific capability within the team. 
• Establish strong laboratory standards for experimental rigor, reproducibility, biosafety, strain traceability, reagent/sample management, automation, data capture, and knowledge management. 
• Participate in project reviews with leadership, regulatory, engineering, and external partners; communicate technical risks, trade-offs, recommendations, and data clearly.

Qualifications  

• PhD in Biotechnology, Synthetic Biology, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Metabolic Engineering, Biochemistry, Biochemical Engineering, or a related field; exceptionally strong M.S./M.Tech candidates with substantial relevant industrial experience may also be considered. 
• 10+ years of relevant industrial experience in microbial strain engineering, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, recombinant expression, or industrial biotechnology, with demonstrated scientific ownership of development programs. 
• Demonstrated ability to select microbial hosts and engineering strategies based on product biology, pathway/expression requirements, manufacturability, and commercial constraints; sound understanding of microbial physiology and fermentation fundamentals. 
• Ability to independently develop detailed scientific proposals, project scopes, experimental plans, decision trees, and development strategies from incomplete early-stage information, and to critically review literature, patents, public databases, and third-party technical packages. 
• Demonstrated scientific leadership, mentoring, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills. 

Preferred Experience  

• Leading strain-engineering programs from proof-of-concept to commercial translation. 
• Experience across multiple microbial hosts and products such as recombinant proteins, peptides, enzymes, specialty chemicals, flavors/fragrances, nutraceuticals, pigments, lipids, or other precision-fermentation-derived molecules. 
• Experience evaluating or licensing third-party strains/chassis/toolkits; patent searching, patent-family review, preliminary FTO landscaping, invention disclosure, or working with IP counsel. 

Why Join Us? 

• Lead and shape the strain-engineering capability within an integrated precision fermentation platform spanning strain development, fermentation, downstream processing, and scale-up. 
• Take meaningful ownership of scientific strategy and platform decisions while remaining close to hands-on science, mentor a growing technical team, and work directly with leadership, global scientific advisors, collaborators, and technology partners on high-value programs with paths toward industrial translation.