Director of Strain Engineering

About the role

We are seeking a driven and innovative Talent Director of Strain Engineering to lead our strain development programs at Switch Bioworks in San Carlos, CA. This role will be responsible for building and scaling a world-class strain engineering team, driving cutting-edge metabolic engineering projects, and translating breakthroughs into scalable bioprocesses.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, construction, and optimization of microbial strains for industrial bioprocesses.
• Develop and implement high-throughput strain engineering workflows, including CRISPR and other advanced genome-editing tools.
• Collaborate with computational biology, fermentation, and downstream processing teams to integrate strain performance with process scale-up.
• Establish and manage partnerships with academic and industry collaborators to accelerate strain innovation.
• Mentor and grow a multidisciplinary team of strain engineers, ensuring alignment with company goals and fostering a culture of scientific excellence.
• Oversee intellectual property strategy and ensure robust protection of strain engineering innovations.
• Drive continuous improvement in strain performance through iterative design-build-test cycles.

Requirements

• PhD in Microbiology, Biochemical Engineering, Synthetic Biology, or a related field.
• 5+ years of postdoctoral or industry experience in microbial strain engineering, metabolic engineering, or synthetic biology.
• Proven track record of developing and deploying engineered strains for industrial applications (e.g., biofuels, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals).
• Expertise in genome editing (CRISPR, recombineering), high-throughput screening, and omics-driven strain optimization.
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals and/or patents in strain engineering.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing external collaborations.
• Hands-on experience with microbial chassis such as E. coli, Saccharomyces, or other industrially relevant organisms.

Qualifications

• Industry experience in bioprocess scale-up and commercialization of microbial strains is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with regulatory pathways (e.g., GRAS, FDA, EPA) for microbial products is desirable.
• Experience with automated liquid handling, next-generation sequencing, and bioinformatics pipelines.