Plant Synthetic Biologist

OXMAN

OXMAN is a hybrid Design and R&D company that fuses design, technology, and biology to invent multi-scale products and environments. We reject the human-centric design paradigms that have divorced us from Nature, and instead pursue a Nature-centric approach—delivering solutions by, for, and with the natural world. We design across scales for systems-level impact, treating every construct as a whole system of complex interrelations rather than an isolated object.

Role Overview

OXMAN is seeking a Plant Synthetic Biologist to join an interdisciplinary team of scientists, fabricators, and designers.

Successful applicants embody stellar technical skills, hold the capacity to navigate and resolve uncertainty, and demonstrate a strong capacity for outside-the-box problem solving. They have demonstrated work rooted in sound scientific reasoning and process-driven design; exemplify a passion for systems-based thinking with a wide range of potential applications for their work; personify an appreciation for engineering, science, and art; and seek synergy between biology, technology, and the environment in research and direct industrial utility.

The Plant Synthetic Biologist will play a key role in designing and implementing novel projects and applications of synthetic biology principles to a variety of biological and bio-inspired systems—from protoplasts and tissue cultures to whole organisms and biotic-abiotic hybrid systems. This work will advance a future of unification between synthetic biology and design, wherein the result could be a proof-of-concept product/process, art objects, or novel tools and techniques.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead plant biology projects across all stages, from concept development to product fruition

• Design and execute experiments that develop, validate, and/or enable novel products/processes that fundamentally leverage synthetic biology

• Maintain high-quality documentation of scientific output and research in the forms of written reports, electronic lab notebooks, internal databases, code comments, etc.

• Nurture and augment the scientific vision of OXMAN, upholding core design principles and ensuring the highest and most innovative quality of work

• Actively partner with a multidisciplinary team of professionals, including other biologists, engineers, and designers, across scientific and design pursuits

• Communicate ideas, work, and progress clearly, including by engaging in team meetings, presentations, and other creative communication outlets

Required Experience

• PhD or equivalent, with a focus on bioengineering/synthetic biology and its applications in the plant kingdom.

• Minimum 3 years of industry or academic experience in plant biology research, genetic engineering, and/or application R&D for synthetic biology systems.

• Portfolio of highly successful scientific or engineering work demonstrating out-of-the-box thinking and stellar taste

• Fluency in the use of relevant synthetic biology tools, including physical equipment and methods used for plant growth, tissue culture, and regeneration, sequence design software, transformation and cloning, etc.

Essential Qualities

• Ability to thrive in a self-directed environment

• Excellent project management skills, organizational skills, and attention to detail

• Strong commitment to the team; maintains positive working relationships with diverse people, including internal team and external partners

• Embodies ethics and integrity in all work with impeccable scientific integrity, respecting both company and broader community policies in all conduct