Science and Technology Associate
Closing February 26th
Apply here: https://www.counterfactual.co/join-us
Our Science and Technology Associates support the Research, Design and Build Team in high impact venture creation. The Science and Technology Associate works closely with the Head of Science and Technology, as part of the Research Design & Build (RDB) team. The RDB team includes both technical and commercial experts who work together to explore major challenges, gaps and opportunities in the ‘alternative protein’ and ‘alternative material’ industries. Entrepreneurs in each cohort are eventually matched with candidate company ideas vetted by the RDB team.
The associate works closely with the other RDB team members to: implement a systematic process to identify the most important and promising challenges to address, ideate and critically assess solutions to these challenges, and assist in the development of technical roadmaps for the top candidates for company ideas. The research consists of a combination of desktop research and external outreach.
Must-haves
...or feel free to convince us otherwise. Everything depends on working with the right people, so we're happy to be persuaded that you would be a great fit with our team!
- MSc, PhD or equivalent (in progress or completed) in a relevant technical discipline:
– Biology: Biochemistry, systems biology, genetics, cell biology, neuroscience, stem cells, microbiology, plant biology
– Food Science: Related to chemistry, processing, and/or mechanics
– Engineering: Bioengineering, biotechnology, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, genetic engineering, protein engineering, industrial engineering (relevant to fermentation or bioprocessing), process engineering
- Hands-on experience working within a lab (academic, government or commercial)
- Active interest in systematically exploring all the ways in which technology can replace factory farming. This includes the ability to assess technical promise of commercial viability primarily within deep tech IP and B2B solutions, while also assisting the commercial side of the RDB team in thinking through the commercial viability of opportunities in geographic, behavioral and market segment dimensions.
- Prior experience working within teams, and strong interest in working in a team environment
- Ability to be highly organized and self-managed
- Experience with or interest in the commercial side of company building
- Entrepreneurial mindset that is excited to be in a startup environment
- Ability to engage in ‘blue sky thinking’ and thrives on putting in the work
Nice to haves:
- Some experience with one or more of the following food and/or material technologies: plant-based, cultivated, fermentation, or blended
- Having a wide-ranging network that can assist in the exploration and research of adjacent technical areas
- Experience in commercial R&D
- Experience working with IP, and researching and assessing patents
More Info:
- Location – Post COVID, the team will likely be based in London/Europe, depending on how the new world shapes itself. An openness to relocate post COVID is strongly preferred: to London, or a highly desirable EU city (Lisbon, Berlin and Amsterdam are on the list of candidate cities). In the meantime, fully remote arrangements on UK/EU timezones are the default.
- Remote work timezone – After attempts to work with teams distributed from West Coast US to Mumbai, we've decided to shift our core operating timezone to align with London (this may change as we select an HQ city post COVID). If currently located far east or west, we can temporarily accommodate partial work-hour overlap (ex. 5am PST start = 1pm GMT), though this wouldn't be a permanent arrangement.
- Salary – Highly competitive combination of salary and equity incentives with significant room for growth.
