Vice President and Head - Strain Engineering

Company Overview

Headquartered in the dynamic metropolis of Hyderabad, widely regarded as the lifesciences capital of India and home to over 1,800 lifesciences companies, our venture is on a mission to build a next-generation precision fermentation platform. We aim to create sustainable, scalable bio-based solutions across food, feed, cosmetics, agriculture, and industrial biotechnology. Backed by leading investors and guided by a global advisory network, we are building a world-class innovation engine rooted in microbial technologies.

Job Summary

We are seeking a visionary leader to join us as Vice President and Head of Strain Engineering to drive our microbial engineering efforts from concept to commercial readiness. This role will be pivotal in shaping the company’s scientific direction, scaling novel biotechnologies, and transforming promising strains into real-world impact. You will work closely with interdisciplinary teams—including process engineering, regulatory, business development, and external collaborators—to lead the development, optimization, and industrial translation of microbial strains.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership

  • Define the vision, roadmap, and execution strategy for the strain engineering function.
  • Build and mentor a high-performing team in microbial synthetic biology, genome editing, and strain optimization.
  • Serve as the scientific face of the company in external partnerships and thought leadership platforms.

• Strain Development & Optimization

  • Engineer microbial strains (bacteria, yeast, fungi) for enhanced production of target molecules with high yield, robustness, and process fitness.
  • Leverage state-of-the-art tools in metabolic engineering, CRISPR/Cas systems, biosensor development, and adaptive laboratory evolution.
  • Drive data-driven strain iteration using systems biology, -omics analysis, and AI-enabled design.

• Technology Transfer & Collaboration

  • Work with academic and institutional partners to onboard early-stage intellectual property (IP) and co-develop new platforms.
  • Oversee validation and optimization of incoming strains to meet commercial performance benchmarks.
  • Ensure regulatory-ready documentation of all engineering workflows and compliance standards.

• Scale-Up & Integration

  • Collaborate with downstream fermentation and bioprocess teams to scale strains from lab bench to pilot and commercial manufacturing.
  • Anticipate and troubleshoot strain performance under scale-relevant conditions including media shifts, operational stress, and batch variability.

Qualifications

• Education: PhD in Biotechnology, Microbiology, Synthetic Biology, Biochemical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience: 10+ years of hands-on experience in microbial strain engineering, with at least 3 years in a leadership or senior scientific role.
• Expertise: Deep expertise in model (e.g., E. coli, S. cerevisiae) and non-model organisms (e.g., P. putida, C. glutamicum).

Preferred Skills

• Demonstrated experience translating strains from R&D to pilot and commercial-scale fermentation.
• Prior work in biosynthesis of recombinant proteins, lipids, small molecules, or specialty biochemicals.
• A strong track record of working across industry-academia collaborations, tech transfer, and in cross-cultural environments.

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years in relevant roles, with significant experience in leading teams and projects related to microbial strain engineering.

Environment

• This is a full-time leadership role located in Hyderabad, India. The work environment is dynamic and collaborative, requiring close interaction with varied teams and external partners.

Growth Opportunities

• Join a mission-driven company solving global challenges through biomanufacturing innovation. Lead from the front to shape India’s first full-stack precision fermentation platform, offering rare opportunities for career advancement in the rapidly evolving biotechnology sector.

Benefits

• As a member of our team, you will enjoy competitive salary packages and the benefits associated with working in a cutting-edge biotechnology environment.