Associate Director, Bioprocess Development
About the role
Oath is a leading microbial sciences company focused on using the soil microbiome to address critical global challenges like the climate crisis and sustainable agriculture. The company develops innovative microbial products aimed at improving soil and plant health.
Key Responsibilities
Develop and execute the company's bioprocess development roadmap across solid-state fermentation, submerged fermentation, and downstream processing.
Lead the development and optimization of solid-state fermentation (SSF) technologies.
Provide scientific leadership for submerged fermentation development programs conducted internally and through external partners.
Design and oversee experimental programs to improve microbial growth, sporulation, viability, productivity, consistency, and process performance.
Identify critical process parameters and define development strategies for key microbial products and platforms.
Analyze experimental results and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of scientists, research associates, and contractors.
Establish project priorities, development objectives, and performance expectations.
Foster a culture of scientific rigor, innovation, collaboration, and accountability.
Support recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and professional development of team members.
Ensure effective resource allocation across multiple development programs.
Serve as the primary technical lead for CROs, academic collaborators, and other external development partners.
Develop experimental plans, review study designs, analyse partner datasets, and provide scientific guidance to external teams.
Manage project timelines, budgets, deliverables, and technical performance.
Review technical reports, data packages, and development outcomes to ensure high-quality execution.
Support identification, evaluation, and selection of external development partners.
Collaborate closely with R&D, Product Development, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Agronomy, Regulatory, and Commercial teams to ensure alignment between process development activities, product requirements, and business objectives.
Communicate technical findings and recommendations to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Contribute technical expertise to product, manufacturing, and business decision-making.
Qualifications
Ph.D. in Fermentation Science, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related discipline (M.S. with significant relevant industry experience may be considered).
5+ years of industrial experience in bioprocess development, including microbial fermentation, downstream processing, scale-up, and technology transfer.
Demonstrated expertise in microbial fermentation process development, including both submerged fermentation (SmF) and solid-state fermentation (SSF).
Hands-on experience designing, executing, and analyzing upstream and downstream process development experiments, with strong experimental design, statistical analysis, and data interpretation skills.
Proven track record of leading and developing scientific or technical teams while successfully managing multiple cross-functional projects.
Experience managing CROs, CDMOs, or other external development and manufacturing partners, including technical oversight, project planning, and technology transfer.
Excellent leadership, communication, collaboration, and project management skills, with the ability to translate complex technical findings into clear recommendations for R&D, Manufacturing, Commercial, and Operations teams.
Proficiency with common scientific and business software, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, project management tools (e.g., Jira or Asana), LIMS (e.g., Benchling or R2DIO), collaboration platforms (e.g., Slack or Teams), statistical analysis software (e.g., JMP, Spotfire, or R), and AI productivity tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini).
Preferred
Experience developing microbial products for agriculture, environmental, industrial biotechnology, food, or other life science applications.
Experience working with Bacillus, Streptomyces, co-cultures, or other soil- and environmental-derived microorganisms.
Experience developing sporulation processes, formulation strategies, and microbial stabilization technologies for live microbial products.
Experience supporting manufacturing scale-up, commercial process implementation, and continuous process improvement in a fast-paced biotechnology environment.
Experience contributing to intellectual property development, invention disclosures, and technology strategy.
Familiarity with Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), such as Benchling, R2DIO, or equivalent platforms.
Location
Vacaville, CA
Compensation
$105,000-130,000 base salary.