Senior Scientist, Biochemistry, Assay Development
About Moa
Moa Technology is an innovative and rapidly growing crop protection R&D company.
Our mission is to create a new generation of safe, effective and affordable herbicides to help farmers produce high quality food for all. Our team of passionate and talented scientists, technicians, and operational staff uses disruptive proprietary technologies to quickly and accurately discover novel modes of action capable of breaking weed resistance to herbicides.
At the heart of our company are the Moa values which guide our work and our behaviour: determined, empowering and transformative.
The role
This is a Senior Scientist role in our Target Verification (Biochemistry and Bioanalytical) team, playing a crucial role in investigating herbicidal mode of action and weed resistance mechanisms within our Functional Biology Department. The team designs and develops in vitro and in vivo assays to study the primary targets of novel small-molecule herbicides and the mechanisms plant use to try and survive this.
You will be responsible for the design, the development and the execution of biochemical and biophysical assays. You will also assist with molecular characterisation experiments to investigate plant resistance mechanisms. Your role will be mostly-laboratory based with responsibilities including:
- Design and execution of a range of experiments, as well as critically reviewing and interpreting data
- Overseeing the design and management of studies at contract research organisations, based on research project requirements.
- Analysing, summarising and presenting data to other members of the team and to project stakeholders within the company
- Deliver project responsibilities within deadlines
- Collaborating with other teams across our R&D departments
- Project work-stream leadership/management
- Identifying and implementing new technologies to support ongoing development of the Biochemistry platform
Knowledge and experience
Required
- PhD with 2+ years experience in R&D; alternatively, a graduate with additional relevant experience in herbicide discovery, agricultural biotech, drug discovery or a related field.
- Good knowledge and first-hand experience of biochemical and biophysical assays.
- Able to design and develop assays from scratch and translate them into plate format
- Molecular biology skills such as DNA/RNA extractions, purifications and PCR
- Ability to design and interpret robust scientific experiments
Desirable
- Good knowledge and first-hand experience with DNA expression constructs design and protein purification (recombinant and/or native).
- Experience with automated liquid dispensing instrumentation and assays automation
- Familiarity with analytical technologies (LC/LC-MS)
- First-hand experience in cell/plant culture
- Experience with in vivo assays on plants
- Experience preparing samples for next generation sequencing experiments
- Capable of reviewing and interpreting ‘omics datasets
- Experience working collaboratively within a dynamic, cross-functional matrix organisation
- Familiarity with data analysis software such as but not limited to GraphPad Prism, or Sigma.
- Familiarity with Protein structure visualization software (such as, but not limited to Pymol, Chimera), Molecular Biology software (such as, but not limited to SnapGene, VectorNTI)
Personal attributes and competencies
- Strong work ethic and willingness to learn on the job.
- Well organised with strong attention to detail.
- Able to work autonomously and proactively when required, but also able to collaborate with a dynamic team with people from diverse backgrounds.
- Able to actively listen and effectively communicate on complex scientific topics.
- Able to manage your time effectively on multiple diverse projects simultaneously and to meet deadlines, demonstrating awareness of realistic time requirements for yourself and the team.
- Practical problem solver, confident to flag concerns but also resourceful and able to come up with proactive solutions.
- Courage to challenge actions incompatible with our collective values.
- A strong desire to learn and to grow within the role
What we offer
- Competitive salary
- Electric vehicle scheme
- Workplace pension scheme where the company will match up to 7.5%.
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Training and Development
- Group Life, Income Protection, and Private Medical Insurance
- 25 days Annual leave
- Additional Annual leave purchase scheme
- Bike2Work Scheme
We are committed to building a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. We recognise that diverse and inclusive teams build a stronger and more innovative company. Therefore, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion/belief, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or maternity status, or veteran status. Due to the high level of candidates that we receive, we will only contact successful applicants for the interview stage.
How to apply
If you are excited by this opportunity, the work that we do, and the problems we are trying to solve, we’d love to hear from you. Please send an up to date CV with a covering letter explaining why you are interested in the role to [email protected], including the name of the role in the subject header. We do not use AI to screen your application and it will be read by a real person.
Please note that you must be eligible to work in the UK, as we are unable to sponsor work permits at this time. Work permits from other organisations are unacceptable as proof of right to work in the UK.
