Overview
Role Summary
Umami Meats is looking to hire an inquisitive, innovative, and independent Research Associate to join our media optimization team in Singapore.
As a Research Associate at Umami Meats, you will work closely with our technical and business leadership to overcome a number of technical challenges to make this sustainable food future possible. One day, you will be working on primary cell culture, establishing optimal conditions for culturing cells from new species. Another day may see you using a variety of molecular techniques to characterize cell performance in a variety of media conditions and optimizing the serum-free media for those cell lines.
You will work directly with other members of our small but growing team to do cutting-edge science and will have the autonomy to test new ideas and identify better ways to do things.
You will work directly with other members of our small but growing team to do cutting-edge science and will have the autonomy to test new ideas and identify better ways to do things.
What You Will Do:
- Work directly with senior technical leadership on cell culture and media development projects to achieve scientific milestones
- Execute and analyze high throughput screening assays (using statistical analysis and design of experiments, as appropriate)
- Produce and screen novel food-grade media formulations and serum alternatives
- Formulate optimal media for proliferation and differentiation of marine muscle cell lines
- Continually improve our high throughput media screening pipeline
About You
- Above all, you’re mission-aligned: you want to apply your technical talents to building a more sustainable food system and a better future for humanity. Whether you’re driven by animal welfare, environmental protection, ocean sustainability, climate change, or something else, we all bring different perspectives to our shared mission.
- You’re proactive. You take initiative and think about the big picture.
- You’re inquisitive, curious, and have a growth mindset.
- You strive to be high-performing and want to work with others who will help you achieve peak performance.
- You’re kind, collaborative, and believe that you can learn something from everyone you encounter.
- You thrive in dynamic environments and enjoy “hacking” new and innovative solutions to pressing problems.
In Return, We’ll Support You With:
- A competitive salary and benefits package
- A safe, supportive, and collaborative environment that will challenge you to do your best work
- An open and adaptive workplace; you’ll have the freedom to define best approaches to solving problems, both technical and organizational, without legacy overhead
- Constant opportunity for growth, including biweekly 1-on-1s and mentorship from the leadership team
- Impactful work tackling one of the world’s most pressing problems
Selection Criteria:
Ultimately, this role will be shaped around the right candidate. If our mission speaks to you and you are driven to work on solving one of the most impactful problems facing our planet today, we want to talk!
Critical Skills and Background:
- A BS/MS in a relevant life science/engineering discipline or equivalent relevant experience
- Demonstrated ability to independently execute laboratory experiments and quickly learn new skills and techniques
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and skills to prioritize and deliver against timelines
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including strong command of the English language
Preferred Additional Skills
- Experience with media screening and optimization
- Experience working in high-throughput, multi-well plate formats for molecular biology or cell engineering/growth studies
- Experience with marine animal (fish or invertebrate) cell culture is a significant advantage
- Proficiency in Design of Experiments (DoE) and/or statistical skills in data analysis
- Experience in immunofluorescent cell assays, imaging, and analysis
- Experience with the design, scale-up, and use of large-scale bioreactors
About Umami Meats
Umami Meats is developing delicious, affordable, sustainable cell-cultured seafood that is better for our health, our oceans, and our planet.
Company overview
Umami Meats is a cell-cultured seafood company that is developing delicious, affordable, sustainable seafood based on our novel plant-derived serum and edible aquatic organism cell lines. We’re on a mission to empower humanity to eat sustainably without sacrifice. We believe the only way to change how the majority of the world eat seafood is to create the most delicious, healthiest seafood available but without the environmental and animal welfare consequences of traditional fisheries and aquaculture.
We’re a venture-backed biotech startup located in Singapore where some of the world’s smartest, most passionate people are pioneering a sustainable food future that is attractive and accessible to people around the world. We are united by our collective drive to ask tough questions, take on challenging problems, and apply cutting-edge science and engineering to create a better future for humanity. At Umami Meats, you will be encouraged to dream big and will have the freedom to create, invent, and do the best, most impactful work of your career.
