Helaina - New York, NY
posted 7 days ago
About the position
Helaina is a VC-backed biotech startup creating a new category of functional food products. Our vision is to bring the functional properties of human proteins to food. Helaina will be the first company to put human milk proteins into food, defining a new category of consumer nutrition products focused on supporting immunity. We see a range of opportunities to use our breast milk proteins to enhance other types of functional foods for all segments of the population. In this role, you will work in our NYC lab to strategize, plan, and perform experiments on the bioprocess downstream processing team. The successful candidate will be a hands-on, motivated self-starter with a strong sense of initiative and attention to detail. You will be responsible for contributing directly to Helaina's company milestones by supporting recovery of our fermentation products through downstream process development, purification, and product characterization for the Bioprocess team. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is hungry to work in a startup environment and ready to do the best work of your career.
Responsibilities
- Lead and conduct downstream process development experiments at lab scale to increase product quality and yield.
- Analyze experimental data to evaluate process performance and propose adjustments to improve efficiency and consistency.
- Troubleshoot process-related issues in real-time and provide quick solutions to ensure operational continuity.
- Translate findings from lab experiments to support scale-up to pilot and production scales.
- Apply a fundamental understanding of protein purification unit operations to support process development, including tangential flow filtration and chromatography.
- Collaborate with R&D teams to integrate experimental findings into larger-scale production workflows.
- Maintain accurate records of all experiments and ensure compliance with safety and regulatory standards.
- Stay up to date with advances in purification science and propose process improvements and innovation.
- Travel may be required approximately 15% of time.
Requirements
- B.S. in chemical engineering or related field with 6 years of experience; M.S. in chemical engineering or related field with 4 years of experience; or Ph.D. in chemical engineering or related field with 1 year of experience
- Experience and understanding of purification techniques including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and chromatography.
- Eager to troubleshoot through lab/experimental issues and discover new findings.
- Strong knowledge of recombinant proteins and protein analytics (SDS-PAGE, Western Blots, HPLC, and other protein analytical techniques).
- Energetic, creative, and personally motivated by the future of food and/or biological products.
- Self-motivated to design, troubleshoot, and successfully execute protocols.
- Effective communicator, both within a collaborative scientific team and in communicating science to non-technical audiences.
Nice-to-haves
- Start-up experience
- Scale-up experience
- Protein engineering knowledge
- Understanding of the upstream process
- Statistical analysis experience
Benefits
- Full medical, vision and dental coverage
- Short and long term disability insurance coverage
- 401k match (up to 3%)
- Unlimited vacation days, including an all-company holiday between Christmas and New Year
- Paid Parental Leave for both parents + flexible return to work program
- Childcare reimbursement program
- Commuter Benefits
