Scientist, Plant Cellular Engineering (Metabolic and Synthetic Biology)

Scientist, Plant Cellular Engineering (Metabolic and Synthetic Biology)

EIT - Ellison Institute of Technology

Oxford, United Kingdom

Your Role:

EIT is seeking a highly motivated and skilled Scientist or Senior Scientist in Plant Metabolic Engineering to join its pioneering Plant Biology Institute.

The successful candidate will lead the development of innovative metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches to manipulate plant cellular conditions. Specifically, the candidate will design, implement and characterise engineering strategies to optimise plant respiratory activity, energy status, and redox balance. These engineering approaches will be first evaluated and optimised in plant cell cultures guided by iterative design–build–test–learn cycles before being translated into whole plants for improving productivity.

The scientist will be expected to contribute to IP generation and play an active role in translating research into real-world and commercial solutions aligned with EIT’s mission of humane technological advancement. This role offers a unique opportunity to conduct high-impact research at the forefront of plant science while collaborating across multidisciplinary teams to drive innovation from lab to global impact.

Your Responsibilities:

• Design, implement and characterise engineering strategies to manipulate plant respiratory activity, energy status, and redox balance;
• Develop and apply methods to quantify cellular respiratory activity, energy status, redox balance and other relevant metabolic responses in plant cells and tissues;
• Lead experiments in plant cell cultures and whole plants, ensuring that findings are effectively translated between the two experimental systems;
• Lead phenotyping of engineered cell cultures and plant lines using physiological, biochemical, imaging and multi-omics approaches (e.g., transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics);
• Apply iterative design–build–test–learn cycles to develop and refine engineering strategies;
• Advance promising engineering strategies into whole plants for functional validation;
• Drive rigorous experimental design, execution, and data interpretations, ensuring robust and reproducible scientific outcomes;
• Deliver research progress through stage gated milestones;
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to incorporate cutting edge research techniques into experiments;
• Present scientific work at seminars within EIT and at external meetings, including contributing to discussions on developments within the field;
• Assist in mentoring other members of the research group where appropriate;
• Assist in the translation of scientific results into commercial opportunities consistent with the EIT humane endeavours;
• Recognise and act on opportunities for the creation of IP and cooperating in patent protection and in impact delivery;
• Conduct research ethically, in compliance with EIT policy, regulatory guidance, and best scientific practice.

Requirements:

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• PhD in Plant Biology, Synthetic Biology, Metabolic Engineering, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology or a related discipline;
• Strong research background with expertise in one or more areas relevant to the role. Indicative examples include:
  • Demonstrated experience in plant metabolic engineering and synthetic biology;
  • Demonstrated experience in the targeted manipulation of cellular processes;
  • Demonstrated experience developing or applying methods to measure respiration, energy status, redox balance and/or other related metabolic parameters;
  • Demonstrated experience of transient and stable genetic engineering in plant cell cultures, tissues and/or whole plants.

Desirable Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• Experience with advanced microscopy analysis and imaging of plant cells or tissues using light, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy techniques;
• Experience with plant gas-exchange;
• Experience generating and preparing biological samples for transcriptomic, metabolomic and proteomic analyses;
• Experience with laboratory automation, robotics and high-throughput experimental workflows.