About the Role
As the R&D Director, you will spearhead our mission to harness the power of nature through innovation, driving the creation of groundbreaking biotechnological solutions for environmental challenges. Leading our dynamic and multidisciplinary team of world-class scientists, engineers, technicians and students, your role will be pivotal in shaping the future of bioengineered biological systems.
Reporting to co founder and the Chief Technical Officer, you will be responsible for the strategic direction and organization of R&D, implementing vision, setting daring goals, and making sure team is in the best position to reach them. Your goal will be to assemble and lead one of the best performing synbio teams out there, in terms of talents, culture and accomplishments. You will be part of the leadership team to provide crucial technical insights, and help design the strategic vision for the company and the next generations of products.
You will have full leadership responsibility for the R&D, as such, you will ensure our science is always of the highest quality and rigor, as you set a fast working pace aligned with our level of ambition.
You will play a critical role in further enhancing and growing our scientific network, both in the public and private sectors. You will also help facilitate cross-functional communication, both inside the R&D team and with the business teams and especially marketing and product teams. As part of our executive team, you will serve as a key advisor to the founders on strategic decisions.
Main missions (but not limited to):
Science and innovation:
1) Identify both scientific breakthroughs and business opportunities to refine both our product vision, our proprietary technologies and technical roadmap.
2) Ensure that the R&D strategy integrates both the bleeding edge innovations and practical approaches needed to reach our objectives in record time and effort.
3) Ensure the efficient and effective management of R&D projects from conception through to completion. Oversee the design, execution, and analysis of experiments, ensuring projects are delivered on time and to the highest quality standards.
4) Ensure proper scientific and strategic rationales to prioritize, push, hold and stop projects from conception to final product stages.
5) Collaborate with legal and compliance stakeholders to protect intellectual property and ensure all R&D activities and products adhere to regulatory standards.
Leadership:
1) Develop and implement the strategic vision for the R&D department, aligning with the company's mission, short and long term goals.
2) Manage a diverse team composed of 20+ scientists, engineers, technicians and students with various technical skills and expertise from around the globe.
3) Foster a culture of team spirit, innovation, and excellence.
4) Support the professional growth of the team, lead the recruitment and training of new talents, and ensure that the team continues to push the boundaries of biological science in particular synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and microbiology, while reinforcing our company values.
5) Work closely with internal experts, leveraging their knowledge to advance research projects.
6) Build and maintain relationships with our scientific advisory board, external research institutions, industry partners, and academic communities to leverage scientific advancements and explore collaborative opportunities.
7) Communicate complex scientific concepts and progress reports to stakeholders across the company, ensuring transparency and alignment with business goals.
Requirements
PhD and 10+ years of experience in synthetic biology and in some of the following fields: plant molecular biology, metabolism engineering, plant physiology, microbiology, in silico modeling, plant in vitro culture and transformation.
Significant industry experience leading an R&D team of 10+ people, with a track record of innovation and successful product development.
Extreme scientific rigor, excellence, and attention to detail
High level of both creative and critical thinking, with the ability to translate complex research into actionable business strategies.
Action oriented with an ability to generate actionable results in very limited time
Proven ability to lead many diverse projects simultaneously
Always-on positive and problem solving attitude in the face of relentless and extremely difficult challenges.
Exceptional team spirit, interpersonal and communication skills.
Proficiency in English
Key points
Nice to have:
Leadership experience in a biotech startup environment
Experience in plant synthetic biology
Proven public speaking skills to embody our values, science and mission to best represent the company at internal and external events.
Shared values: Team spirit, Positive impact, Excellence, Humility
Recruitment process
Step 1 - 1 technical interview focusing on Role-Related Knowledge.
Step 2 - 1 technical interview focusing on General Cognitive Ability (case study)
Step 3 - 1 interviews focusing on Leadership and Karma
Step 4 - 1 Culture fit interview
Step 5 - Meet the team & visit the Seed
Step 6 - Karma leadership Interview
Advantages
Intéressement
Tickets resto
Mutuelle d'entreprise
Other advantages or details
1 remote day per week
Contribute to global innovation by collaborating with world-class experts in their field, learn
from the founders, and get regular updates on everything happening in the company through
monthly company-wide meetings.
Join an innovative startup where you can make an impact and at any position in the
company
Participate in recurring company events, such as our annual kick-off, offsite seminar,
after-work, celebrations every month, team activities like escape games or go-karting
Come work in our brand new Neolab, 'The Seed': A unique 1,200m2 space on two floors
Featuring a state-of-the-art wetlab, full-scale performance testing rooms among other high-end
equipment, as well as open offices and great team spaces!
Enjoy great benefits:
Highly competitive salary
Transportation (Navigo card or bike pass): 100% reimbursed.
Swile (lunch vouchers): 10€ per day worked - 55% paid by the company
Health: Alan Blue (private insurance, 70% paid by the client, applicable to your family) and access to Moka.care (wellness and mental health support platform)
Healthy snacks and fruit in the office
Your own Mac Book pro
Personalized little attentions and a seniority gift from year one
About the Company
Our Client is an early stage biotech start-up founded by Ex Google and PhD Genetic Editing, ENS, working on the first generation of bioengineered plants to fight air pollution. They start with indoor air pollution, which is up to 5 times higher than outdoors and due to a specific type of pollutants called VOCs. They create plants that can effectively remediate these compounds in your home. Their longer term ambition is to leverage our technologies for other large scale applications such as carbon capture and storage for example. They are backed by top tier Silicon Valley and European investors and are currently based in Paris, France.
They are looking for passionate, ambitious, rigorous and talented individuals to supercharge their R&D and join them on our mission: putting nature at the heart of product innovation to drive positive change. They're looking for individuals who are not afraid to take on seemingly impossible challenges, humble enough to recognise when barriers are insurmountable, yet ingenious enough to find workable solutions.
They are at the beginning of a thrilling journey; with amazing growth opportunities. Joining them means being part of their world-class team and having a huge impact on their R&D and the development of our products. You will get to exercise your leadership, critical thinking, project management skills and team spirit by acquiring multiple responsibilities in an ultra fast-moving environment. You will also contribute to the exceptional working environment we are cultivating.
We aim to rekindle that spark we had in our eyes when we first got into science. If you are as excited as we are about state-of-the-art technologies, exploring uncharted scientific territories, pushing the boundaries of what is conceivable for good, if you want to transform the way people think about genetics and work on inspiring deep-tech products that have a real positive impact on the environment and people's lives, join us and help us lead this movement.