Technical Lead – Biology

The Company

Evonetix is a growing biotech company which is set to revolutionize de novo gene synthesis as needed to facilitate the fast-growing and incredibly exciting field of synthetic biology. Our technology integrates novel molecular biology methods and microfluidics with a novel silicon array capable of independent control of many thousands of miniaturised reaction sites. This allows massive parallelism of the DNA synthesis process and on-chip DNA assembly with integrated error removal.

Our community is a closely-knit multidisciplinary and multicultural team of biologists, physicists, synthetic and surface chemists, and mechanical, electronic and software engineers.

We have just closed our $30M Series B funding round and recently moved to a state-of-the-art facility in central Cambridge, allowing us to undertake significant recruitment to enable the development of our commercial DNA synthesiser.

The Position

Our novel approach to gene synthesis and assembly is set to revolutionise what is possible with a desktop gene synthesiser. Key to this ability is our error detecting assembly process that discards oligonucleotides with synthesis errors before they are assembled into longer strands of DNA. We have demonstrated proof of concept for the key steps within this process, and now want to integrate with our chip technology. We are looking for an experienced technical leader to take responsibility for this multi-disciplinary project.

You will work with the Director of Biology to plan and deliver a programme of experimental work to integrate and optimise the gene assembly process and the algorithms that are used to calibrate it. You will work with a team that includes biologists, physicists, software engineers, surface chemists, mechanical engineers, and electronics engineers from across our company. You will provide technical and programmatic leadership of this team, setting strategic direction and facilitating communication. You will use your practical experience to provide hands-on guidance of experimental work and data collection.

This is a unique opportunity to take a leading role in the development of Evonetix's third-generation gene synthesis platform.

Essential skills and experience

Educated to PhD level in Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biochemical Engineering, or related subject in Biosciences
Experience of technical leadership roles within multidisciplinary teams and projects in an industrial environment, with a proven record of successful commercialisation
Hands-on experience in molecular biology and biophysical methods for nucleic acid manipulation and analysis, including hybridisation, amplification, detection, purification and quantification
Excellent skills in experimental design, implementation, troubleshooting, and data analysis
A successful candidate will be a self-starter and able to work both independently and within a team and strive to meet tight deadlines
Highly collaborative, self-motivated, team player with excellent verbal and written communication skills
High level of technical proficiency, scientific creativity, initiative, and independent thought

Desirable skills

Candidates would be in advantage if they can demonstrate some of these skills:

Experience in DNA synthesis, gene assembly and error correction methods
Experience with developing DNA-based assays (e.g. fluorescence-based) in microfluidic environments and automation of DNA assembly methodologies
Experience of working with optical systems for DNA detection and quantification
Knowledge and experience of next generation sequencing technologies and/or DNA arrays
Understanding of product development processes in a regulated environment
An interest in understanding and solving problems across disciplines

Benefits

This opportunity comes with an attractive benefits package which includes a contributory pension, private medical care, life assurance as well as the opportunity to partake in the staff equity scheme.