Head of Synthetic Biology Design & Profiling (W/M)

We, as bioengineering, develop and operate the largest private integrated industrial biofoundry in France, working in conjunction to a Gene Editing Synthetic Biology hub in the USA, and deliverto the Lesaffre’s Mission of “Working together to better nourish and protect the planet”.

Our Mission: We lead microbial engineering for a sustainable future. 

As Manager of Synthetic Biology Design and Profiling group, you will play a decisive role in shaping the future of industrial biotechnology at the Biofoundry of Lesaffre.  

Your mission will be to manage a team of scientists, research associates and technicians which will design, construct and optimize novel genetic circuits, microbial chassis and metabolic pathways to unlock the potential of microorganisms for a wide range of applications.  

Our Approach: We manage an international team of motivated, risk-taking scientists and engineers to merge biology, engineering, automation and computation. Your expertise in synthetic biology will be essential to driving innovation and accelerating the development of high-performing microbial strains. 

Keywords: Synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, biofabrication, genetic circuit design, DNA assembly, high-throughput assembly, automation, Python, laboratory informatics. 

Your main responsibilities will be :

• Animate & manage your team: mentoring, goal-settings, performance evaluation and motivating cross-functional teams.
• Design and construct novel genetic pathways and microbial chassis using state-of-the-art synthetic biology tools.
• Translating customer requirements into strain design: participate to steering committee meetings, update plans based on feedback, anticipate what the customers are asking or will ask for. 
• Develop automated workflows for rapid prototyping, testing and optimization of engineered microorganisms.
• Stakeholder management: collaborate within the Biofoundry with HTS and Automation, and with other CoEs (Biodata, Fermentation, Analytical, DSP…) to integrate your synthetic biology constructs into full DBTL cycles. 
• Resource and Budget management of the team. 
• Stay abreast of the latest synthetic biology technologies and methodologies to continuously improve our capabilities.
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
• Represent the Biofoundry's Synthetic Biology initiatives internally and externally through presentations and technical reports.