Career Opportunities

As the Business Development Associate reporting to the Director of Business Development, you will support the implementation of our strategy. You will participate in the identification and analysis of business opportunities that create value for the company and are aligned with our vision:

- Analyze specific parts of the bioenergy market and key technologies;
- Identify opportunities and elaborate financial analysis & simulations to support decision making;
- Support the development of business plans;
- Help execute and manage deals that create value for the company; and
- Work collaboratively with the scientific team communicating market drivers & needs and providing commercial discipline to research and development efforts.

Qualifications:
- Minimum 3 years of experience, preferably in consulting, strategic planning or business development roles in the Energy or Biotech industry;
- BS degree required, MBA from a top-tier business school highly desired;
- Strong analytical and communication skills;
- Solid experience developing financial models and business cases;
- Ability to gather, evaluate and screen relevant market data; generate insights; identify opportunities; and present recommendations in a clear and concise manner;
- High degree of personal integrity and strong ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment; and
- Self-motivated, proactive and have a strong performance bias.

Business Development Director - Agricultural Solutions (#3000-1FG)

Responsibilities:
As the Business Development Director you will support the development and implementation of the plant feedstock business strategy. You will be responsible for identifying and creating new business opportunities, executing and managing deals that create value for the company and promoting the cross-functional alignment required for a successful business. Specific responsibilities will include:

- Explore, understand and monitor the agricultural biotechnology market and underlying plant & microbial-related technologies;
- Assess market needs and internal capabilities and identify opportunities;
- Elaborate business cases for decision making;
- Prepare executive presentations and justify business cases for senior management;
- Elaborate business plans for agricultural products;
- Develop and nurture relationships with potential partners and customers ;
- In alignment with executive team, structure, execute and manage deals that create value for the company;
- Effectively lead or participate on project teams;
- Align and manage interface with science team;
- In collaboration with subject matter experts, manage agricultural biotech IP portfolio;
- Lead the process of turning technologies into commercial solutions and marketing them;
- Contribute to execution of global team strategies and marketing plans; and
- Work in collaboration with a full range of internal and external parties, harnessing the different capabilities required to develop a successful business. 

Qualifications:
- MBA degree from top-tier business school and at least 10 years of solid experience in business preferably in the field of plant sciences or agricultural products;
- Experience negotiating and/or managing agreements with large companies and academic institutions;
- Financial and business acumen and proven skills for commercially successful partnerships and business relationships;
- Self-motivation, strong analytical, team work and communications skills; and

- Ability to travel both domestically and internationally.  

 

Business Development Director - Hydrocarbon Solutions (#3000-2FG)

Responsibilities:
As the Business Development Director you will support the development and implementation of the genomic-driven hydrocarbon recovery and conversion business strategy. You will be responsible for identifying and creating new business opportunities, executing and managing deals that create value for the company and promoting the cross-functional alignment required for a successful business. Specific responsibilities will include:

- Explore, understand and monitor the enhanced hydrocarbon production & recovery market and underlying technologies, especially biological solutions;
- Assess market needs and internal capabilities and identify opportunities;
- Elaborate business cases for decision making;
- Prepare executive presentations and justify business cases for senior management;
- Elaborate business plans for hydrocarbon solutions;
- Develop and nurture relationships with potential partners and customers;
- In alignment with executive team, structure, execute and manage deals that create value for the company;
- Effectively lead or participate on project teams;
- Align and manage interface with science team;
- In collaboration with subject matter experts, manage Hydrocarbon Recovery and Conversion IP;
- Lead the process of turning technologies into commercial solutions and marketing them;
- Contribute to execution of global team strategies and marketing plans; and
- Work in collaboration with a full range of internal and external parties, harnessing the different capabilities required to develop a successful business.

Qualifications:
- MBA degree from top-tier business school and at least 7 years of solid experience in business preferably in the field of oil & gas or coal exploration technologies;
- Experience negotiating and/or managing agreements with large companies and academic institutions; 
- Financial and business acumen and proven skills for commercially successful partnerships and business relationships;
- Self-motivation, strong analytical, team work and communications skills; and
- Ability to travel both domestically and internationally.

 

Responsibilities:
The IP Manager will support the development and implementation of our IP Strategy. The incumbent will:
- Work as the liaison between outside counsel, business team and scientists to proactively manage all information, activities and records related to our IP portfolio;
- Meet with and communicate regularly to provide updates on new patent and registration applications and prosecution status;
- Conduct regular docket maintenance reviews and recommend actions as necessary;
- Support the drafting of invention disclosures and preparation and prosecution of patent applications worldwide;
- Manage the implementation of IP policies, procedures and guidelines;
- Monitor, understand and summarize the IP landscape trends and developments;
- Review and analyze competitor patents and technologies and provide offensive and defensive advice; and
- Provide education to various company functions in IP issues, facilitating the integration of corporate IP strategy.

Qualifications:
- Experience in patent drafting and prosecution in biotech companies or law firms serving such clients;
- Patent agent or J.D. admitted to practice before the USPTO;
- Successful experience working with cross-functional teams;
- Advanced degree in molecular biology, biochemistry or a related discipline required; and
- Self-motivation, strong verbal and written communications skills.

Responsibilities:
The Product Development Leader will support the implementation of the agricultural solutions business strategy. The incumbent will define, manage and execute the road-map for taking promising scientific leads in the agricultural solutions area through commercialization:

- Work as the liaison between external partners and internal science teams working on plant biotech and microbial solutions. Effectively lead or participate on project teams;
- Explore, understand and monitor the plant biotech, biofertilizer and biopesticide markets and underlying technologies;
- Plan the development of compounds in experimental and commercial stages;
- Understand the unique biological, physical and chemical attributes of candidate solutions and anticipate product performance and potential application strategies;
- Determine the appropriate controls, formulations, application methods and techniques;
- Develop efficient programs to test products, generate reliable data and expedite the registration process;
- Manage all information regarding test results and prepare all reports, analysis and recommendations on way forward. Prepare presentations to support decision making;
- Support IP protection process;
- Elaborate product specifications, plan and execute product-launch and commercial strategy;
- Manage distribution of samples;
- Coordinate product training; and
- Contribute to creation and execution of global business strategies and marketing plans.

Qualifications:
- Must have previous experience and track record bringing agricultural formulations to market;
- Background in agricultural sciences or related biological science;
- Masters or Ph.D. degree and experience working in the business environment;
- Successful experience working with cross-functional teams;
- Self-motivation, strong analytical, team work and communications skills; and
- Ability to travel both domestically and internationally.

Qualifications:
Successful candidate requires minimal supervision in conducting biochemical research and high throughput assay development.  Must have a proven track record characterizing a variety of different enzyme classes and setting up high throughput assays for studying microbial and recombinant clone libraries for various functional assays. The candidate doesn’t hesitate to challenge current practices in order to find better methods and completely new solutions and practices.                     

The candidate regularly reports to the project teams both internal and external if necessary. The candidate maintains concise laboratory notebooks and ensures compliancy with all safety policies and practices.

Requirements:
B.S. degree in biochemistry or related field with a minimum of 8 years of experience in an industrial setting or M.S. with 4 yrs or Ph.D. with 2 years, or equivalent education and experience, required. Experience in developing and running high through put biochemical assays is a must. Managerial experience highly valued.

The Scientist will run analyses using multiple instrumentations to characterize the microbial metabolism & biotransformations derived from coal conversion into methane. Profound understanding of microbial physiology of anaerobic microorganisms, in particular degradation of compounds for growth (bioremediation or bioconversions) is highly desirable. Candidates should be proficient in setting up analytical methods including chromatographic techniques, sample preparation from complex environments and analysis and deconvolution of data. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, Microbiology or related field and at least five years experience in industrial setting.

The Scientist will join a dynamic team that is working to develop bio-based fuels & chemicals using photosynthetic microbes as production organisms.  Responsibilities will include the development & application of novel metabolic engineering & synthetic biology procedures to the production of superior photosynthetic strains. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Plant Biology, Biochemistry, or related field with a minimum 0-5 yrs of hands on experience.  Experience with photosynthetic microbes is highly desirable. 

The Plant Biotechnology Group is seeking a Senior Scientist to assist with the design and development of a research program for plant improvement.  This key contributor will work with the scientific and business development teams to implement a broad strategy for the improvement of biofuel crops and will be essential in helping to plan the genetic components of plant projects.

Qualifications:
- Requires a Ph.D. degree in Plant Genetics, Plant Breeding, Plant Molecular Biology or related field;
- Minimum 5+ years of industry experience in Plant Biotechnology;
- Previous experience in plant genetics, including marker-assisted breeding, plant transformation, trait screening and trait gene validation;
- Track record of performance in plant improvement projects; and
- Excellent written & verbal communication skills. Ability to present & explain scientific concepts, approaches and project results in small and large group settings.