Senior Scientist / Engineer (Agricultural Chemistry / Plant Toxicology)

Everforth ECS is seeking a Senior Scientist/Engineer with expertise in agricultural chemistry and plant toxicology to serve as a Scientific Engineering Technical Advisor (SETA) supporting an ARPA-H Program Manager. This remote position involves collaborating on bold ARPA-H research initiatives to accelerate better health outcomes through high-impact solutions to society’s most challenging health problems.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to a multidisciplinary team developing breakthrough technologies for:
  • Molecular discovery of next-generation herbicides and related treatments to maintain high crop productivity while minimizing human health impact
  • Monitoring agricultural chemicals in and around farms
  • Novel, economically sustainable weed control methods
  • Next-generation, non-contact chemical analysis tools for medical products
• Provide subject matter expertise on plant toxicology, including herbicide mechanisms of action, phytotoxicity, molecular markers of effectiveness, and the fate of agrochemicals in ecological systems, soil, and water.
• Evaluate technical proposals for scientific merit and innovation; provide feedback, organize reviewer comments, draft recommendations, and prepare presentation materials.
• Perform market and regulatory analyses, technical due diligence, literature reviews, and generate briefing documents summarizing:
  • The interplay between farming practices, agricultural chemicals, soil health, worker safety, and consumer health
  • Spectrometry and other non-contact chemical analysis methods for drugs and medical products
• Develop technical and administrative programmatic documentation on short timelines to communicate technical approach, progress, cost, schedule, and risk for advanced technology development efforts.
• Assist and advise the Program Manager to further the development and progress of new and existing programs.
• Conduct thorough technical scientific evaluations of the current R&D landscape to identify gaps and address critical needs aligned with the ARPA-H mission.
• Monitor and track performer progress toward established metrics.
• Read and digest complex information; develop team and executive-level briefings for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Integrate into an existing team to support current ARPA-H efforts; operate independently and collaboratively in a group environment.
• Perform basic administrative tasks such as collecting, sorting, analyzing, and writing internal programmatic reports/briefings on relevant health-related topics.

Some CONUS travel is expected (~10-20%) to fully support the Program Manager and Program.

Requirements

• A PhD in a related field with 2+ years of experience is preferred; an MS with 5+ years or a BA with 7+ years of experience in a related field is acceptable.
• Experience in plant toxicology and/or agricultural chemistry, analytical chemical methods, spectroscopy techniques, and molecular biology methods.
• Experience in the development and/or evaluation of analytical chemistry methods for agricultural applications, field-deployable sensing platforms, biosensor-based detection systems, and spectroscopic or chromatographic techniques.
• Familiarity with industry leaders and disruptors in AI-enabled and high-throughput methods of herbicide development, including biological herbicides; precision agriculture technologies; agrochemical remediation; and chemical sensing and detection.
• Desired familiarity with USDA and EPA-regulated agricultural technologies and policies, and intersections with FDA on biotechnology.
• Experience coordinating independent verification and validation, and managing programs with cooperative agreements, Other Transaction (OT) awards, milestone-based contracts, FFRDCs, interagency efforts, and commercialization efforts.
• Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills, including proficiency with keyboard shortcuts and the ability to create slides and files on the fly in high-pressure environments.
• Professional curiosity, continuous drive for learning, and ability to focus on assigned tasks.
• Ability to communicate complex scientific ideas to broad audiences, digest basic and applied research across biotechnology, and apply findings to health capability gaps.
• Team-oriented with exceptional communication, writing, and organizational skills.
• Expertise in anticipating and mitigating ethical, legal, and societal implications of high-profile research efforts is desired.
• Must be able to obtain a federal government Public Trust clearance.

Desired Skills

• Prior experience supporting ARPA-like programs (e.g., DARPA, IARPA, ARPA-E) or U.S. DoD advanced development programs.
• Prior support to executives managing large-budget programs in an R&D environment.

Pay

$110,000 - $185,000