Research Associate, Discovery
Job description
Elo Life Systems
Position Description – Research Associate, Discovery
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 uses molecular farming to source natural ingredients and sustainably scale production. 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@elolife.com
The Role
The Research Associate, Discovery will be a key member of the R&D team, reporting to the Director, Discovery. This impactful role contributes to high-throughput screening of new candidate genes within Elo’s proprietary plant metabolic engineering platform as well as broadly supports product development and characterization. This role will be primarily responsible for processing of samples from transiently and stably-transformed plant materials to prepare them for chemical, physical and molecular characterization (e.g. gene expression, sequencing, metabolomics and enzyme assays). This role is located on-site in Elo’s state-of-the-art laboratory facility in Durham, North Carolina.
Key Competencies:
- Demonstrated experience in standard molecular biology and laboratory chemical analyses
- 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:
- Extracts target nucleic acids, proteins and metabolites from plant tissues using in-house protocols as part of a continuous analytical pipeline, preparing samples for LC/MS mass spectrometry, qPCR and other analyses
- Processes fruit and other plant tissues to characterize product composition, including fruit juice Brix, pH, titratable acidity, sugar composition, protein and metabolite content
- Performs routine cloning and molecular biology tasks (PCR, nucleic acid purification, restriction digests, DNA sequencing, bacterial transformation, etc.)
- 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
- 1-5 years of relevant post-graduate experience in academia or industry is preferred
- Experience contributing to high-throughput processing of biological samples, ideally across a diverse range of molecular biology and chemical analyses, such asDNA/RNA extraction, PCR/qPCR, gel electrophoresis and sequencing is preferred
- Working knowledge or hands-on experience running LC/MS workflows is highly 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 - $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Health insurance
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Supplemental pay types:
- Bonus pay
Work Location: In person
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