Scientist II/Sr. Scientist, Process Development

About us

At the forefront of farming and food, UPSIDE Foods is innovating new ways to produce real meat, without the need to breed, feed and slaughter animals. Our process begins with an animal cell, which is cultivated and harvested as meat. UPSIDE Foods is a mission-driven company focused on bringing to meat lovers an authentic product that is truly humane, sustainably produced, nutritious and delicious! We are now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across disciplines to make better meat for a better world.

About this Job

UPSIDE has experienced hypergrowth over the last two years in the rapidly developing cultivated meat industry. We are seeking an innovative individual who enjoys fast-paced growth and is passionate about changing the future of food. The R&D Scientist II/Senior Scientist within process development will be responsible for developing and running experimental designs to understand and optimize our cultivation processes. You will lead experiments, analyze and interpret data, communicate results, and drive research forward. In addition, you will mentor and develop junior associates within the process development team to foster internal growth.

Responsibilities Include

• Independently drive lab scale (0.2 L - 36 L)  bioreactor, cell culture, and harvest experiments that include novel technology implementation, development, and characterization
• Plan, execute, and analyze cultivation experiments with complex data sets to understand mass balances and metabolic shifts
• Lead cross-functional efforts to collect, interpret, and analyze data to determine next steps for the department
• Thoroughly plan future experiments using a data driven approach based on the strategic goals of the program
• Designing experiments in traditional and high throughput cell culture platforms at varying scales (e.g. shake flask, benchtop bioreactor)
• Mentoring junior team members and developing their scientific skills
• Fostering scientific scholarship via internal/external networking and leading regular literature reviews

About You

• Ph.D. with 2+ years of experience in chemical engineering, bioprocessing, bioengineering or closely related field; BS/MS candidates with 6+(BS) or 4+(MS) years of research and development experience in the biopharmaceutical, cell therapy, or similar industry are encouraged to apply
• Industrial bench scale research experience
• Skilled with JMP for navigating and analyzing large data sets
• Confident with classical bioreactor scaling concepts and able to apply these concepts to novel meat cultivation processes
• Strong critical thinker who is comfortable solving unique scientific challenges by learning from peers, seminars, and scientific literature
• Possess the technical and people skills to elevate the performance of team members in your orbit
• Experience working in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment

Desirable skills

• Deep knowledge/understanding of scale-up considerations for large-scale bioreactors.
• Mammalian or avian cell culture and recombinant protein expression.
• Extensive experience in designing and executing DOE-based experiments

Who you’ll work with…

• You will collaborate very closely with scientists and engineers from varying functions such as cell line development, cell culture media development, process engineering, and data teams to formulate and execute a strategy for scalable, cultivated meat. 

Key Contributions in First Year…

• Lead and support critical path process development studies 
• Support technology transfer activities to the EPIC production facility

UPSIDE Benefits!

• Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
• 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
• Pet insurance for your furry family members!
• Unlimited PTO
• DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Council and People Engagement Programs
• Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.