What you will own at Wildtype:

• Produce our current scaffolds with novel cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation cues
• Tissue engineer muscle, fat, and connective tissue, including cell seeding, scaffold stimulation, and harvest to packaging
• Analyze experimental samples by light microscopy, fluorescence-based immunoassays, colorimetric assays, histology, and mechanical assays
• Carry out experiments with the guidance of our scientific leadership maintain accurate notes, present data, be engaged in scaffold rational redesign and experimental planning
• Acquire new skills and integrate new technologies

What we’ll teach you:

• How to apply your tissue engineering skills in the context of next-generation sustainable food production
• Scale up basic tissue engineering techniques to unprecedented volumes
• How to continue growing as a scientist with outside-the-box thinking, creative experimental design, execution, and analysis
• New techniques such as hybrid scaffold fabrication, functional assays, advanced microscopy, molecular biology, and screening methodologies

What you bring to Wildtype:

• 2+ years of mammalian cell culture experience or 1+ years of stem cell culture experience
• Exceptional aseptic technique with a great understanding of the fundamentals of cell culture in 3D scaffolds
• Experience preparing analytical reagents and dilutions
• Experience with molecular biology is a plus
• Experience with mechanical engineering, CAD, 3D printing, nanofiber creation is also a plus
• Comfortable taking notes, writing reports, and performing laboratory-related arithmetic
• Capable of overcoming obstacles/difficulties with a positive attitude; enjoys challenges; proven ability to see goals through to the end
• A hunger for learning, growth, and being part of a fast-moving, dynamic team
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organization skills
• Able to learn quickly and excel in a fast-paced work environment
• Self-starter, willing to take initiative to accomplish key tasks

Impact Plan:

• Within 1 month you’ll have carried out your first experiment on your own, with the support of your scientific mentor. We’ll rely on you to prepare scaffolds and other experimental reagents without supervision. You will have performed a few advanced analyses (including taste tests) on the samples you have produced. You will have defined your professional development goals for the next twelve months.
• Within 3 months you will have mastered basic tissue engineering lab techniques within Wildtype’s unique context. You will be independently carrying out routine activities such as cell culture, cell seeding, differentiation, and sample analyses without supervision. You will have contributed to the design of several experiments.
• Within 6 months your tissue engineering skills will have developed to the point where you can independently train a new hire on Wildtype’s entire product production process. Your work will be organized effectively to achieve tasks on time at a high level of quality. You will have executed your first independently designed experiment with controls, and presented your findings at a company-wide research meeting.
• Within 12 months you’ll be managing and carrying out multiple experiments simultaneously. You will be able to articulate how your work directly impacts the company’s milestones. You will routinely take the initiative to research topics independently and volunteer new ideas or approaches.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Build and lead a team of food scientists to improve the physicochemical, sensory, and functional properties of cultivated seafood products

• Lead the company’s research program for the biological basis of flavor

• Design and oversee food science research and development, including ingredient interactions, protein chemistry, food engineering, process optimization, scale up, sensory analysis, flavor development, and nutritional analyses

• Oversee procurement, analytics and formulation development

• Develop novel seafood products with various scaffold manufacturing technologies and cell integration approaches

• Evaluate novel ingredients, preparations, and production methods

• Cross-functionally operate and have a good grasp of concepts at the intersection of food science, biology, engineering, and commercialization

How you’ll work with other teams

• Collaborate with product, scaling, and tissue engineering teams to develop new cultivated seafood products

• Work with our tissue engineering team to push the boundaries of traditional cell propagation and differentiation methodologies to larger 3D environments

What you bring to Wildtype

• An MS or PhD in Food Science

• 5+ years experience in Food Science, particularly in product development, testing, and scaling

• A deep understanding of protein chemistry (fats and oil chemistry a plus), hydrocolloids, food engineering, and component functionality & interactions in a food product as a whole

• At least 3 years of team leadership experience

• Contribute to an environment of scientific curiosity

• Mission-driven, resourceful, creative, positive disposition, and entrepreneurial

• Ability to move projects forward in the face of continuously evolving priorities and timelines

• Preferred, but not required: knowledge of food processing technology, food cost and scaling, food sensory properties analyses, ingredient regulatory framework, and food storage and packaging

• Preferred, but not required: standard protein and small molecule separation and characterization techniques (e.g., SDS-PAGE, capillary electrophoresis, enzymology, NMR, FITR, CD, UV/Vis/Fluorescence spectroscopy, HPLC, LC/GC-MS)

What we’ll teach you

• How to apply your experience in food science to the production of next-generation seafood

• How to work with and lead in a fast-moving, interdisciplinary team working at the leading edge of several fields

Impact Plan

• Within 1 month you will have adapted your experience in food science to Wildtype’s unique context. You will have set your professional development goals for the next twelve months.

• Within 3 months you will have assumed responsibility for Wildtype’s Food Science organization.

• Within 6 months your efforts on R&D over the past six months will have yielded significant improvements to Wildtype’s salmon product. Your leadership responsibilities will expand as our Food Science team grows. You will have trained several new hires and built a high-performing team.

• Within 12 months you will be overseeing the research and development operations in the world’s first pilot-scale facility for cultivated seafood.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Own Wildtype’s quality assurance & food safety programs

• Serve as Wildtype’s PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual)

• Build and strengthen our food safety and quality inspection procedures

• Ensure that our novel cell-cultivated seafood products meet compliance standards

• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for quality controls and approvals

• Collaborate with our operations team to audit suppliers, ingredients, raw materials, and supplies used within our production process

• Utilize preventive controls and measures to ensure high standards for food safety, plant hygiene, and proper storage

• Continuously inspect and evaluate the quality parameters of our production process

• Conduct hazard analysis with chemical hazards, physical hazards, allergens, and microbiological hazards to prevent contamination and develop strong protocols

• Create and revise SOPs, and establish KPIs to measure the effectiveness of quality control & food safety

• Use data to identify trends and troubleshoot problems

What you bring to Wildtype

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (ie. Biology, Chemistry, or Food Science)

• 2 years of people management experience preferred

• 5+ years of PCQI experience in a manufacturing environment, biotechnology, or life science industry

• Experience leading food safety and being accountable for all audits focused on food safety and quality assurance

• PCQI and/or HACCP/FSMA certification, GFSI & FSMS experience a plus

• A thorough understanding of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), and a commitment to strong safety procedures

• Experience working with regulatory requirements and compliance, such as the FDA, USDA, and other governing bodies

What we’ll teach you

• How to apply your experience in food safety to an entirely novel production system
  

• How to work with and lead in a fast-moving, interdisciplinary team working at the leading edge of several fields

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will assume full responsibilities of our food safety & quality processes. You will have adapted your experience to Wildtype’s unique manufacturing context. You will have defined your professional development goals for the next 12 months.

• Within 3 months you will have made significant upgrades to our preventative maintenance and quality protocols. You’ll work cross-functionally with Operations and our R&D team to understand the requirements of our technology and process, and to develop SOPs and safety procedures.

• Within 6 months you’ll be ready to operate independently, driving projects forward with minimal supervision. From this point on, you’ll work closely with our Operations & Manufacturing teams to ensure a high standard for food safety and quality. You can expect to periodically report progress on your projects to our entire team and will be assuming an increasing level of responsibility.

• Within 12 months you’ll be leading the food safety & quality procedures for the world’s first pilot plant for cell-cultivated seafood and will be laying the groundwork for the next level of scaled production. You’ll lead our interactions with regulatory authorities not just in the United States, but overseas. Your work in bringing one of the first cultivated seafood products in the world to market will position you as a global thought leader on food safety for this new form of meat and seafood production.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Design and implement processes for new cell lines/species

• Continuously optimize process to improve culture efficiency and yield at bench scale

• Assist in company efforts to scale up cell culture

What you bring to the table

• Willingness to challenge the status quo; unafraid to break things in order to build something better

• Education in bioprocess engineering, biochemical engineering, mechanical engineering, cell biology or biochemistry with prior process development experience (measured by impact, not years)

• Strong analytical skills

• Enjoy testing new hypotheses with experiments

• Preferred, but not required: experience with automation

What we’ll teach you

• What is it like to work in a super talented startup group where we challenge/inspire each other to do better for the collective good of the company

• How we developed dozens of marine cell lines and adapted some of them to suspension culture, and invite you to make suggestions on how we could do better for new lines/species

• Our current suspension culture process (for you to analyze, take apart, and rebuild)

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will have formed some questions regarding Wildtype’s current suspension culture process, and designed preliminary experiments to address those questions.

• Within 3 months You will have set your professional development goals for the next 2 years. You will have developed your own initial hypotheses based on prior run data and started testing those hypotheses for the purpose of increasing cell culture efficiency and yield. You will have been hitting the floor and running your experiments with other crewmates.

• Within 6 months you will have gathered enough data to validate/invalidate your initial hypotheses. You will have presented your findings to the entire R&D branch and made your recommendations to the next steps of process development. You will also have been exposed to our new cell line establishment/development efforts and provided your inputs from the process development perspective (eg., clone selection, culture format, feed strategy). Depending on your professional development goals, you will have started investing some time into building/managing your own team, and/or training others on process development.

• Within 12 months you will have established new bench scale processes for suspension culture of our workhorse cell lines to improve yield. You will also have developed culturing processes for multiple novel cell lines from new species.

What you’ll be accountable for at Wildtype

• Lead process development projects to improve Wildtype’s scaling operations, including supervising junior scientists and engineers

• Design, review, execute, and analyze process development experiments ranging from bench through pilot scale, leading to process transfer to commercial scale

• Partner with our leadership team to define scale-up plans and work through technical roadblocks

• Transfer bench scale processes through pilot scale, leading to process transfer to commercial scale

• Optimize production processes to improve product yields consistent with safety and quality standards

• Establish operating procedures consistent with good manufacturing practices in a food context

How you’ll support others

• Provide input to setting Wildtype’s goals and milestones for 2022 and 2023

• Support leaders across the organization through technical problem solving

What we’d like you to teach us

• At least 5 years of hands-on cell-culture bioprocess development and process transfer from bench- to commercial-scale.

• At least 2 years of experience managing 2-4 direct reports

• A deep understanding of process variables, such as, Kla, power values as they apply to scaling up/down an efficient process.

• Equipment validation to qualify prototype instruments

• Experience developing processes for a wide variety of cell lines

• Creatively applying your previous experience to the development of an entirely novel set of bioprocesses

• Deep experience with a wide range of bioreactor platforms and control systems

• How to work in and lead a diverse, team-based environment

What we’ll teach you

• How to apply your experience in large-scale cell culture to the production of next-generation seafood

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will have adapted your experience in process development to Wildtype’s unique context. You will have also assumed mentorship responsibilities for at least two more junior scientists and will play an active role in developing the next generation of scientists and engineers at the company. You will have set your professional development goals for the next twelve months.

• Within 3 months you will have assumed responsibility for Wildtype’s process development projects such as, the installation, validation, operation, and maintenance of the company’s fleet of bioreactors. You will have written and operationalized standard procedures consistent with good manufacturing practices for food. You will regularly design and test new equipment as Wildtype continues to scale its production capacity.

• Within 6 months your efforts on R&D over the past six months will have also yielded significant improvements to Wildtype’s production efficiencies. Your leadership responsibilities will expand as our scaling R&D and the production team grows. You will have trained several new hires and built a high-performing team of production associates and supervisors for our pilot production facility. You will have also contributed in defining hiring plans for the next stage of Wildtype’s growth into 2022 and 2023. You will be working closely with our leadership team to set production goals and manage output for Wildtype’s pilot plant.

• Within 12 months you will be overseeing production of cells in the world’s first pilot-scale facility for cell-cultivated seafood. You will be working closely with our facilities and inventory managers to ensure adequate stocks of reagents to meet production and R&D cell production demands.

Your work at Wildtype

• Complete critical research projects in the field of aquatic animal cell line engineering and gene expression

• Perform tissue culture, genetic engineering, and molecular biology work.

• Maintain organized, accurate, and timely experimental records.

• Communicate findings and problems to supervisor in verbal and written formats

What you bring to the table

• Academic background in topics such as cell cycle, proliferation, epigenetics, cell fate, protein production, lipid uptake, metabolism, and regulation of gene expression in eukaryotic cells

• Technical background in molecular biology (CRISPR/Cas9 editing of eukaryotic genomes, PCR and basic sequence analysis, DNA design and cloning techniques, Western blots and cellular assays)

• Experience with editing primary mammalian/animal/stem cells, high- throughput genetic screens, or synthetic biology is a plus

• Strong quantitative skills in statistical analysis applied to cells

• Positive attitude, growth mindset, curiosity, ability to learn quickly, overcome obstacles, and excel in a fast-paced work environment… while having fun!

• Effective project & time management, especially when managing large workloads

• Initiative to accomplish key tasks and pick up the slack

• Desire to work as a team player and build a diverse, inclusive, collaborative, communicative, and considerate work environment

• Excitement for the challenges and opportunities of a dynamic startup environment, and passion for cellular agriculture & the future of the company!

What we’ll teach you

• How to apply your experience in genetic engineering, molecular biology, and cell biology to the production of next-generation seafood!

• How to design an appropriate approach to achieve company objectives in a fast paced startup environment

• How to work with a fast-moving, interdisciplinary team working at the leading edge of several fields!

Impact Plan

• Within 1 month you will have learned your way around the lab, performed several protocols once, and began several experiments. You will have defined your professional development goals for the next twelve months.
• Within 3 months you will have mastered basic lab techniques within Wildtype’s unique research environment. With the guidance of your scientific mentor, you will have completed your first set of transfections and analysed the resulting cell lines for specific outputs.
• Within 6 months you will have a deep understanding of how your work impacts company objectives, and contributed to the design of several experiments. You will be independently organizing your tasks and carrying out experiments to achieve goals on time at a high level of quality.
• Within 12 months you will be able to articulate how your work directly impacts company milestones. Your skills will have been developed to the point where you could train a new hire on all of the protocols you regularly perform. You will routinely take the initiative to research topics independently and volunteer new ideas or approaches.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Develop and test media formulations to support robust animal cell growth to high culture densities
• Analyze and quantify media components and metabolic by-products; adjust media recipes to optimize material input and by-product output
• Use statistical and DOE skills to effectively screen ingredients and recipes for established and new cell lines; make statistically sound decisions.
• Work with the product development team to support high cell density cultures in bioreactors on large scales
• Collaborate with cell biology team to identify metabolic pathways to target for improved efficiency
• Design, execute and analyze experiments; concisely report results and implications to the team.

What you bring to Wildtype

• MS with 2+ years of relevant experience or PhD in related life science discipline (e.g. Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or Biophysics)
• A strong record of productivity with impactful scientific publications and a track record of effective collaboration in complex projects
• 3+ years of experience in animal cell cultures; excellent aseptic technique is a must
• Expert with demonstrated knowledge of nutritional requirements for cell culture.
• Experience using statistics and DOE to design and analyze experiments
• Must have strong organizational skills; able to prioritize and manage time and resources with respect to project timelines.
• Growth mindset, curiosity, ability to learn quickly and communicate effectively.
• Preferred but not required: prior demonstrated expertise in media development, in molecular biology; use of automation (e.g. liquid handling robot) in experimental set up; experience working with microbioreactors or bench scale bioreactors; analytical chemistry

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you’ll have carried out your first experiment on your own, with the support of your scientific mentor. We’ll rely on you to prepare media and other experimental reagents without supervision. You will have defined your professional development goals for the next twelve months.
• Within 3 months you will have mastered basic lab techniques within Wildtype’s unique context. You will be independently performing cell proliferation assays, analyzing and quantifying media components without supervision. You will have contributed to the design of several important experiments.
• Within 6 months your DOE and media analysis skills will have developed to the point where you can independently train a new hire on Wildtype’s entire media development process. Your work will be organized effectively to achieve tasks on time at a high level of quality. You will have executed your first independently designed experiment with controls and presented your findings at a company-wide research meeting.

• Within 12 months you’ll be managing and carrying out multiple experiments simultaneously. You will be able to articulate how your work directly impacts the company’s milestones. You will routinely take the initiative to research topics independently and volunteer new ideas or approaches.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Develop and execute primary cell isolation protocols from sea animals to establish first in the world cells lines

• Isolate different cell types using traditional and novel techniques on never before studied species

• Innovate and optimize culture conditions to establish and maintain primary cultures indefinitely

• Increase throughput of clonal selection for desired traits

• Analyze, prepare and present data in small group setting with potential to present in larger arena

• Mentor and manage CLE technicians and RAs

What you bring to the table

• PhD, OR an MS/MA with +3 years of related experience, OR a BS/BA with +4 years of relevant experience with primary cell isolation, preferably from fish and other non-model species

• Knowledge of mammalian, fish, insect, and/or stem cell culture

• Ability to adhere to tight deadlines and see projects through to the end with willingness to let go projects in pursuit of

• RNAseq and NG sequencing experience

• Strong analytical skills

• HTP assay development and molecular biology a plus

• Resilience in fast moving ever-changing environments, demonstrated perseverance through arduous tasks, courage in unchartered territory

• Collaborative attitude and willingness to take on new goals

What we’ll teach you

• How we work together to overcome audacious challenges

• How to work with a fast-moving, interdisciplinary team working at the leading edge of several fields

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will have learned Wildtype’s unique dissection techniques and gained a basic understanding of sea animal cell culture. You will partner with our team on dissections, and will help you come up with ideas on how to improve cell viability and attachment of various cell types.

• Within 3 months you will have applied and developed your own dissection and cell isolation protocols to increase outgrowth of primary sea animal cells. You will work with members of the Cell Line Development team to characterize gene expression in cells as various stages of becoming a cell line. You and your mentor will have established professional development goals for the next 6 -9 months.

• Within 6 months you will not have only created unique protocols to increase outgrowth and viability of primary cells, but also have developed culturing methods to challenge and increase longevity of these cells. The CLE team will be culturing cells from protocols that you have developed in-house. You will mentor a technician and train them to support Wildtype’s CLE efforts.

• Within 12 months you will have established several cell strains from at least two aquatic species, and provided starting material to the Cell Line Development team. You will have guided technicians through the intricacies of dissection, primary cell culture, and basic laboratory techniques to the point where they can work independently. You will have a direct hand in establishing cell lines for the world’s first cell-cultivated seafood production facility.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Play essential role in maintaining primary cell cultures to establish never before made unique cell strains

• Perform cell culture duties such as routine feeding, media exchange, counting and passaging, imaging and tracking cells all with a gentle touch

• Prepare buffers, reagents, plates, and cell culture media

• Assist in and perform cell isolation protocols from biopsies

• Apply basic laboratory techniques to assist scientists in ongoing research

• Keep detailed records of work and prepare data to present in small group setting

What you bring to the table

• 1-2+ years mammalian cell culture experience, exposure to primary, stem, insect, or fish cell lines a plus

• Excellent aseptic technique with acute attention to detail and adherence to protocols

• Experience handling several cell lines at once while maintaining organized records

• Comfortable with taking notes, synthesizing reports, and performing lab-related arithmetic

• Basic laboratory skills: nucleotide isolation & amplification, Western blot, microscopy

• Motivated and curious individual able to persevere through repetitive work in the face of drawbacks and tight timelines

• Openness to learning new techniques, taking on unexpected challenges, and working with many different personalities

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will have learned enough of Wildtype’s culture, both aseptic cell and social, to be comfortable around the workspace. You will have watched and assisted in dissections and have your own cell strains to maintain and follow.

• Within 3 months you will have mastered basic lab techniques within Wildtype’s unique research environment. You will carry out routine cell culture activities such as media changes, passaging, expansion, freeze/thaw with minimal supervision. You will have worked with your mentor to establish professional development goals.

• Within 6 months your dissection and tissue culture skills will be developed enough to prepare protocols and train someone entirely on your own. You will have performed experiments under the guidance of your mentor, then analyzed the data and suggest follow up experiments. You will be expected to work independently and have weekly check-ins with your mentor.

• Within 12 months you will have expanded your techniques and understanding of the work to be able to explain how your contributions impact the company's larger goals. You will have presented your data in small group settings and learned how to apply critical feedback with a growth mindset.

What you will own at Wildtype

• Play a key role in Wildtype’s cell line establishment team

• Carry out primary tissue culture work, including cell maintenance, characterization, expansion, and cryo-preservation of many nascent lines

• Assist in primary tissue dissections

• Prepare and supply buffers, reagents, plates, and cell culture media

• Carry out lab duties such as managing inventory, aliquoting reagents, and providing general support to the team

• Learn new techniques to further your own development and contribute to Wildtype’s mission

What you bring to the table

• 1+ years mammalian cell culture experience, exposure to stem, insect, or fish cell lines a plus

• Acute attention to detail and ability to maintain precise notes

• Eager to manage many cell strains and handle 5+ dishes at a time

• Willingness to work hard and persevere through repetitive zen-like work

• Openness to learning new skills, taking on unexpected challenges, and working with different personalities

• Experience with molecular biology and basic laboratory techniques a plus

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will have learned Wildtype’s aseptic technique and tissue culture skills to culture fish cells. We will rely on you to prepare media and other key reagents. You will have observed several dissections and be given several cell strains to manage on your own.

• Within 3 months have become familiar with and actively assist in dissections. You will be carrying out routine cell culture activities such as media changes, passaging, expansion, freeze/thaw indepently. You will be comfortable handling many cell strains and plates concurrently while maintaining exceptional sterile technique. With your mentor you will have established your professional development goals.

• Within 6 months you have honed your laboratory and cultivating skills to the point where you will be able to train someone on your own. You will have helped create never before established cell strains and will continue to dissect (new species), passage and monitor up to 20 different cell strains.

• Within 12 months you will have helped generate and expand several proliferative cell strains for the cell line development team. Under the guidance of your mentor you will have found optimal culturing and cryopreservation methods for several cell strains and species

What you will own at Wildtype

• Day-to-day social media management, including calendar, planning, scheduling & post approvals. Channels include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest

• Online community management

• Social media advertising & reporting

• Copywriting for website, social media and blog

• Management of our website, including our blog

• Audience growth goals and reporting, including management of analytical tools such as Google Analytics, Instagram Insights, and Facebook Ads Manager

• Influencer marketing, including outreach, negotiation and coordination

• Work closely with the creative team to develop creative strategy

• Scheduling photo shoots, chefs, influencer tastings, ordering product and supporting all creative production

How you’ll interface with other teams

• Source blog stories from scientists

• Partner with our People team to ensure prioritized roles are being promoted on social media

• Partner with our People team to develop and strengthen our employer brand across all channels

• Work closely with internal and external creatives to develop and execute social media strategies

What we’d like you to teach us

• You're a social media unicorn...AKA a super-organized, all-star copywriter, metrics analyst, news commentator and curator, customer service representative, creative storyteller, community manager, community builder, sales-oriented marketing manager, project manager, campaign coordinator - the list goes on!

• Expertise in growing our audience across all social media platforms

• Experience with social media advertising and measuring outcomes

• How to write great copy to solidify our brand voice

What we’ll teach you

• What our brand stands for, how our technology works - and how we’ll impact human and ocean health

• We will provide you with a budget and tools to learn new social media content strategies and tactics

Impact plan

• Within 1 month you will own all social channels working closely with our creative producer and head of sales & marketing. You will complete a social media audit and begin to develop an action plan surrounding your findings and collaborative goal setting. You will pitch new concepts and strategies to our creative team.

• Within 3 months you will implement your social media strategy across all channels and are achieving results through connecting with our audience in a deeper way. You will move the needle with both organic and paid social media strategies and are now working closely with our creative lead to develop and produce social campaign ideas that you have helped incubate. You have digested our brand voice and write fluently in the “Wildtype” voice. You’re orchestrating Wildtype’s online presence with ease by using impeccable organization skills, strategy, creative content and analysis to ensure that we’re hitting our goals.

• Within 6 months you will know who our audience is inside and out. You will be able to authentically connect with them on a daily basis while rapidly building our audience.

• Within 12 months you will have surpassed the growth and engagement goals you set for yourself in month 1! You’re now supporting our go to market strategy, content strategy, audience growth strategy, and our partnerships with polished execution.