Chief Technology & Operations Officer

Background:

Melt&Marble’s mission is to enable the transition toward a more sustainable food system. We do this by using precision fermentation to develop the best and tastiest fats for plant-based foods. By engineering microbial metabolism, we can brew animal-free fats that mimic the structure and sensory properties of animal fats. The result? Delicious food without compromise.

We are expanding our team and looking to attract an enthusiastic & mission-driven Chief Technology & Operations Officer to help secure the successful upscaling of processes and growth of the team.

Position summary:

The Chief Technology & Operations Officer will oversee and drive process optimisation, scale-up, and tech transfer and will also be the lead in coordinating the design and construction of future pilot facilities.

The successful candidate will furthermore be the company’s main operational support and leader and an important part of the role will be engaging in building and driving external partnerships.

The position reports to the CEO and is a part of the senior leadership team.

The ideal candidate should be comfortable working in the dynamic environment of a startup where things move at a quick pace, priorities can change at short notice, and position/responsibilities may evolve over time. You should also have strong organizational skills, be comfortable with multitasking, troubleshooting challenging projects, and meeting tight deadlines.

Responsibilities and tasks:

• Responsible project leader for Melt&Marble’s development and upscaling projects, developing timelines, plans, and resource overviews and securing timely delivery and optimised processes for improved operability, cost reduction, downstream process improvement and scale benchtop-scale downstream processes to pilot- and industrial-scale.
• Lead and manage the bioprocessing and lab teams, (including a bioprocess engineer, a lab manager plus research assistants and external consultants) and secure team satisfaction, motivation, and development as well as high enthusiasm and performance.
• Responsible for general operational support as required, such as being a main contact point for HR, admin, regulatory, etc.
• Coordinate expansion and move to new labs and offices, ensuring that labs are set up in the best way and that approvals are in place, as well as be overall responsible for running the labs.
• Lead the technical development of process narratives, block flow diagrams (BFDs), process flow diagrams (PFDs) and P&IDs.
• Assist in the development of manufacturing documentation such as process descriptions, batch records and SOPs.
• Identify and select external partners and CROs for Melt&Marble (e.g., academic partners for research collaborations, certain types of analysis, CMOs for production of showcase products, etc.).

Required qualifications:

The successful candidate will have an experienced industrial profile with strong technical knowledge and an industrial mindset, with insights or hands-on experience from strain development, fermentation development, upscaling of complex molecules, and downstream processing. An understanding of regulatory requirements and landscape is required as well as leadership experience.

Specifically, the successful candidates would bring:

• MSc or PhD in bioprocess engineering, or a similar field.
• A minimum of 5+ years of working experience in an industrial setting.
• Strong expertise with different microbial bioprocesses, including fermentation and DSP, at different scales, and successfully taking bioprocesses from the benchtop to pilot or commercial scale.
• Demonstrated excellent leadership capabilities to lead and manage a team.
• Experience with techno-economic modelling/analysis and modeling/simulation of bioprocesses.
• Demonstrated experience from tech transfer and overseeing CRO/CMO activities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a desire to participate in multidisciplinary teams and to work in a small, entrepreneurial, fast-moving and changing environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• A pro-active, hands-on, pragmatic, and hard-working approach with excellent problem-solving skills and the agility to cope with rapid changes in priorities
• Enthusiasm, resourcefulness, and flexibility to the team.

The following experiences would be highly valued, but are not a requirement:

• Designing/construction/managing of production facilities.
• Yeast-based or lipid products.
• Microbial fermentation for production of food ingredients.
• Regulatory affairs for fermentation-based food ingredients.
• IP development/management.

We offer:

• Unique opportunity to participate in and make meaningful contributions to innovative projects that address key global challenges
• An innovative, interdisciplinary, and fun research environment
• Work in the lovely city of Gothenburg- Sweden’s second-largest city. Gothenburg is a seaside city that offers a great combination of city life and beautiful surrounding nature
• Flexible work hours, competitive remuneration, generous vacation package, benefits
• Relocation assistance

Location: Gothenburg, Sweden.

Application procedure:

To apply- please submit an updated CV outlining your experience, educational background and key skills.

Application deadline:

Friday 30^th of June 2023. We encourage interested candidates to apply early as applications might be evaluated as they are received.

If you have any questions about the position, feel free to contact Lisbeth Holm at l.holm@coulterpartners.com.