FaBA Research Assistant/Senior Scientific Officer for Fermentation Project

• ­Food and Beverage Accelerator Program : Based in the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)

• Support world leading research in Food & Beverage Fermentation Biotechnology

• Provide technical & scientific expertise in fermentation strategies

• Based at our vibrant St Lucia Campus

About the Food and Beverage Accelerator

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) is a $160 million initiative to boost growth and innovation in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Part of the Federal Government’s Trailblazer Program, FaBA leverages $50m of government investment with more than $110m from universities and industry. Partners work across four areas: the research programs ‘Innovative Ingredients’ and ‘Premium Food and Beverage Products’, and the enabling programs ‘Innovation Pathways’ and the ‘FaBA Training Centre’.

A national initiative, FaBA provides F&B manufacturers access to research teams, next generation industry professionals, state-of-the-art equipment and pilot facilities. FaBA is proudly hosted by The University of Queensland, in collaboration with participants QUT, UniSQ and UniQuest.

Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of benefits and rewards are available, such as:

• 26 weeks paid parental leave or 14 weeks paid primary caregiver leave

• 17% superannuation contributions

• 17.5% annual leave loading

• Access to flexible working arrangements

• Health and wellness discounts – fitness passport access, free yearly flu vaccinations, discounted health insurance, and access to our Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family

• On campus childcare options

• Cheap parking (from just $5.75 a day)

• Salary packaging options

About This Opportunity 

The FaBA project aims to contribute to doubling the value of Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing sector by 2030, through a focus on smart production and new ingredients, creating innovative foods and beverages, generating thousands of new jobs. Food and beverage manufacturers will have access to experienced research teams, pilot facilities and state of the art equipment to test new products and FaBA will also work with CSIRO to use existing national facilities in food research. Investment will be distributed across Queensland, with infrastructure and enterprises to be developed in Toowoomba, Mackay and Cairns as well as Brisbane.

The project is supported by Industry partners: Kalfresh, v2food, GrainCorp, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), Nourish Ingredients, All G Foods, Eden Brew, Change Foods, Phyllome, and BioSouth. Research partners: The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and University of Southern Queensland. Commercialisation partner: UniQuest. Innovations partners: AgriFood Connect, and FKG Group

All G Foods is the new disruptive alternative protein company changing the future of food. All G Foods is creating a positive food movement dedicated to making food all good, for everyone and everything. Backed by high-profile investors, All G has global ambitions and knows that our talented team are our future.

Our mission is to offer delicious and nutritious alternative proteins to all consumers and have an incredibly positive impact on humanity and the planet.

All G Foods comprises a talented, experienced, and passionate team working to create the most innovative alternative protein food brand in Australia with a vision to extend our presence to the rest of the world. We have led some of the world’s biggest, fastest growing and most innovative companies and teams, and are now turning our hand to ‘profit with purpose’.

We are seeking a Senior Scientific Officer/Scientist - Fermentation to join our fermentation team and support the development of fermentation workflows in close collaboration with All G Foods.

In this position you will be primarily laboratory-based and will work closely with our senior fermentation engineer to develop the fermentation strategies to better characterised microbial strains. Successful candidates will work with All G Foods scientists.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Assist in the day-to-day activities and operations of the bioreactors.

• Support and maintain the unit’s business processes, booking system and client engagement.

• Perform other duties as reasonably directed by the Project Team Leader.

Safety

• Ensure a high standard of occupational health and safety standards and systems, including inductions, supervision, equipment training registers, administration of research Facilities, Inventories, reporting and investigating injuries, incidents and hazards. 

• Assist with developing a proactive safety culture and implement implementing continuous improvement. 

Leadership and management

• Support the development of more junior research scientists.

• Work to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures.

• Contribute to research outputs, joint preparation, and authorship of reports/manuscripts.

Other duties, as reasonable directed by the supervisor

This role is subject to The University’s Code of Conduct .  

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position through to 09 October 2026.

At HEW level 6, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $88,099.39 - $94,512.08, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $103,076.28 - $110,579.13 annually. As this role is covered by an Enterprise Agreement, you will also receive regular remuneration increases – at least once a year.

About You  

We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated fermentation scientist to apply their subject matter expertise and advanced the development of bioprocesses for precision fermentation.

Essential

• Completion of a relevant degree (cell biology, molecular biology, biotechnology, biochemical engineering) with subsequent experience, or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and/or education/training in the cultivation of microorganism microorganisms in instrumented bioreactors.

• Demonstrated research-relevant knowledge and skills with operation-instrumented bioreactors and the relevant operation software.

• Sound understanding of fermentation processes.

• Demonstrated experience in the cultivation of cultivating microorganisms (bacterial, yeast), including screening methods, media selection and standard growth kinetics characterisation.

• Demonstrated laboratory skills (media and buffer preparation, sample preparation, implementation of experimental protocols, use of volumetric materials, etc) 

• Excellent level communication skills

• Well-developed problem-solving skills, with an ability to forward plan, prioritise tasks to meet deadlines and work with a high level of adaptability, both independently and as part of a team

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a proven ability to produce clear and , succinct documentation.

• Strong expertise in the Microsoft Office suite of programs, GraphPad Prism, and the ability to learn new programs (e.g., LabArchives, BioRender)

Desirable

• Completion of a relevant postgraduate degree (masters, PhD ) in chemical engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, or a related discipline

• Knowledge in fermentation control, optimisation and scale-up.

• Experience in the use of electronic lab books

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment. 

Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact A/Professor Esteban Marcellin – [email protected]

For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line. 

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Cover letter addressing the ‘About You’ section  

• Resume 

Please note that you will be asked to add all documents into the one upload box labelled ‘resume’, which is step one of the application form.
 

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion .  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in our broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected] .

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close Thursday 14 March 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (Job Reference Number – R-34880). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for March.