Senior Lead Scientist
About The Position
IFF is seeking a Senior Lead Scientist in Biochemistry and Analytical Chemistry to provide scientific leadership in the discovery, characterization, and development of enzymes for its Grain business. The role combines expertise in biochemistry, enzymology, analytical chemistry, and mechanistic assay development to guide multidisciplinary programs from concept through technology development. The scientist will serve as a technical expert, shape scientific strategy, address complex challenges involving industrially relevant substrates, and mentor scientists across the organization. The position is based on-site in Palo Alto, California. The scientist will work with teams across protein engineering, microbial engineering, fermentation, applications, bioinformatics, and computational science, and may support technology transfer and scale-up activities. The role also contributes to intellectual property and scientific communication through invention disclosures, patents, publications, and presentations.
Requirements
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Enzymology, Analytical Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline.
- Typically 10 or more years of relevant industrial and/or postdoctoral experience in biochemistry, enzymology, analytical chemistry, industrial biotechnology, or a related field.
- Demonstrated expertise in enzyme characterization, protein chemistry, and/or mechanistic biochemistry.
- Deep understanding of enzyme kinetics, reaction mechanisms, binding interactions, thermodynamics, and quantitative data analysis.
- Proven experience developing, validating, and implementing biochemical, enzymatic, and analytical assays.
- Hands-on experience interpreting data from advanced analytical techniques used to characterize proteins, metabolites, reaction products, and complex mixtures.
- A strong record of solving complex scientific problems involving biological systems, heterogeneous materials, or challenging industrial substrates.
- Demonstrated scientific leadership in multidisciplinary research environments, supported by publications, patents, and/or technical innovation.
Nice To Haves
- Expertise with carbohydrate-active enzymes, protein engineering programs, industrial biotechnology, and/or biocatalysis.
- Experience with mass spectrometry-based methods, structural biology, computational modeling, and/or biophysical characterization techniques.
- Experience leading research programs through technology development, commercialization, or product launch.
Responsibilities
- Lead research programs in enzyme engineering, catalysis, protein chemistry, and biochemical mechanisms, translating scientific questions into experimental strategies.
- Develop kinetic and thermodynamic models to explain enzyme performance and guide protein engineering priorities and decisions.
- Investigate enzyme interactions with complex matrices, including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, plant-derived materials, fermentation broths, and other industrial substrates.
- Develop, validate, and deploy biochemical, enzymatic, and analytical assays for screening, mechanistic characterization, and process development, including high- and medium-throughput workflows where appropriate.
- Lead implementation and interpretation of advanced analytical methods, including LC-MS/MS, HPLC/UPLC, GC-MS, UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy, chromatographic separations, and biophysical characterization methods.
- Integrate analytical, biochemical, and process datasets to identify performance bottlenecks, generate actionable insights, and support technical decisions.
- Partner with protein engineering, microbial engineering, fermentation, applications, bioinformatics, and computational teams, and support technology transfer and scale-up as needed.
- Mentor scientists and research associates, strengthen experimental design and data-quality practices, and contribute to invention disclosures, patents, publications, and scientific presentations.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
