Elo Life Systems

Position Description – Research Associate, Synthetic Biology

Elo is the next-generation ingredient company, unlocking nature’s abilities to make consumers’ favorite foods more delicious, healthy, and planet-friendly. With their proprietary CULTIVATE platform, Elo scans the biodiversity present in native plants and identifies novel features that can be harnessed to improve the nutritional content and taste of food consumers enjoy most, while reducing their impact on the environment.

Elo’s innovations are targeted squarely at the classic foods that everyday consumers love. The company believes consumers shouldn’t have to sacrifice their preferences or make major changes to their diet to feel good about the food they eat. With this in mind, Elo is making their favorite foods healthier and more sustainable... providing people more options, without losing any of the flavor or experience that makes these foods so craveable.

The company’s first product to market is a plant-based sweetener that replicates the experience of sugar without the calories or negative health impacts. Inspired by monk fruit, Elo’s sweetener also reduces the environmental impact in resulting products by enabling local production in other fruits and crops. This new plant-based sweetener will have applications in thousands of everyday foods, and eliminate excess added sugars and calories. The result is sustainable and healthy foods that consumers love.

Elo’s core values reflect the importance of its mission and the motivations of its teams, which are needed to tackle the toughest challenges. The company is looking for individuals with diverse backgrounds that exemplify the same.

Creativity.

We empower imagination and risk-taking that shatters conventional wisdom.

Trust.

We achieve durable success by building open and collaborative relationships with our colleagues, commercial partners, and consumers.

Momentum.

The product of people and velocity allows a small object to exert tremendous force. With our team in motion, nothing can stop us.

Excellence.

Our products feed families, so our dedication to meeting the highest standards must never waiver.

For additional information: https://elolife.com

Elo Life Systems is located in Research Triangle Park, NC, a world-renowned Ag Tech center. This position is not expected to travel significantly. Please send your application to careers [at] elolife [dot] com

The Role

The Research Associate, Synthetic Biology will be a key member of the synthetic biology and genome editing team, reporting to the Associate Director, Synthetic Biology. This role will contribute to the design, building and testing of advanced, often complex, synthetic biology DNA parts, constructs and vectors in support plant metabolic engineering. This role is located in Elo’s state-of-the-art laboratory facility in Durham, North Carolina.

Key Competencies:

• Demonstrated experience in molecular biology techniques with a focus on vector cloning.
• Ability to work independently, anticipate challenges, and proactively create solutions in the assigned area of expertise.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and follow through to ensure projects are completed and documented in a timely manner.
• Flexible team player willing to do what it takes to get the job done; adaptable and enjoys new challenges each day.
• Unyielding integrity and commitment to upholding Elo’s values.

Key Responsibilities, Including but not Limited to:

• Performs molecular cloning, including but not limited to construct purification, vector construction, nucleic acid preparation, sequencing, QC and interpretation
• Supports strategies to improve expression, localization, activity, delivery, efficiency and efficacy of various technologies, including Elo’s proprietary homing endonuclease-based genome editing platform
• Supports strategies for rapid design-build-testing of genetic parts and constructs in diverse bacterial, plant and fungal assay systems
• Contributes to building efficient workflows for validation of targets generated through Elo’s proprietary computational candidate discovery platform
• Maintain rigorous organization and documentation of all materials and workflows using an electronic notebook and relational database. Ensures adherence to SOP protocols.

The Successful Applicant

· Bachelor’s degree (B.S.), Master’s degree (M.S.) or equivalent in molecular biology, biotechnology, plant biology, microbiology, biochemistry, or a related field

• 2-5 years of relevant post-graduate experience in academia or industry is preferred
• Significant expertise and experience in synthetic biology, including but not limited to: restriction enzyme digestion, PCR/qPCR, primer design, nucleic acid purification, cloning, bacterial/yeast transformation and screening, electrophoresis and enzyme assays.
• Extensive experience in transformation of E.coli and Agrobacterium.
• Significant hands-on experience with current DNA assembly techniques (e.g. Golden Gate, Gibson assembly and regenerable Type IIS cloning) is highly preferred.
• Hands-on experience with difficult to clone constructs is preferred.
• Knowledge and experience with next-generation sequencing technologies (e.g. Illumina, ONT, PacBio) and molecular biology software tools is preferred.
• Experience with DNA library assays (e.g. surface display, yeast-two-hybrid, directed evolution) is appreciated.
• Experience in laboratory automation and liquid handling equipment is appreciated.
• Ability to lift 50 lbs.

Compensation

We offer a very competitive compensation package, consisting of salary, bonus, equity, and benefits to all team members. For health benefits we pay 100% of employees and their family members!

Elo Life Systems, Inc. is proud to be an affirmative action / equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, creed, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected under local, state, or federal laws.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $60,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Health insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus pay

Experience:

• molecular cloning: 3 years (Required)

Work Location: One location

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