Project Associate Strain Modification for High-Value Protein Production

Teora is a next-gen biotech company on a mission to make the world sustainable, natural where we provide alternatives to harmful chemicals through completely natural products synthesized in cell factories. Our first goal is to replace the chemicals in food with natural and sustainable solutions. You know that microbes can make wonderful food additions such as yoghurt, we are using these same tiny microbes to make many different proteins, peptides that can replace harmful chemicals such as pesticides, antibiotics in a completely natural and sustainable manner, so we all can eat healthy food. https://www.teoralife.com/

We are looking for a motivated and technically strong candidate to work on a 1-year project focused on modifying and optimizing production strains for high-level expression of high-value proteins. The project will involve strain engineering, clone generation, screening, and characterization to improve protein yield, expression stability, and reproducibility.

The goal of the project is to generate improved strain candidates capable of producing high-value proteins at enhanced levels for downstream research and development applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Review scientific literature and existing protocols related to strain engineering, recombinant protein expression, and host strain improvement.

• Design and execute strain modification strategies to enhance high-value protein production.

• Perform molecular biology workflows such as plasmid design, PCR, cloning, transformation, colony screening, and construct verification.

• Generate and screen modified strain variants for improved protein expression.

• Evaluate different expression constructs, promoters, signal peptides, copy number strategies, selection markers, or integration approaches, as relevant to the project.

• Characterize modified strains for protein expression level, genetic stability, reproducibility, and growth compatibility.

• Perform small-scale expression screening in culture tubes, microplates, or shake flasks.

• Perform relevant analytical assays such as protein quantification, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, ELISA, or other biochemical assays as required.

• Troubleshoot issues related to low expression, unstable constructs, poor transformation efficiency, protein degradation, secretion limitations, or inconsistent expression.

• Maintain strain records, construct maps, sequence files, experimental plans, laboratory notebooks, and analyzed datasets.

• Prepare periodic progress updates, technical summaries, SOPs, and a final project report.

• Master’s or PhD degree in Biotechnology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Life Sciences, or a related field.

• Hands-on experience with molecular biology techniques such as PCR, cloning, transformation, plasmid handling, and colony screening.

• Familiarity with recombinant protein expression and strain engineering concepts.

• Experience with aseptic techniques, strain maintenance, and basic microbial culture.

• Ability to design controlled experiments and interpret expression data.

• Basic data analysis skills using Excel, GraphPad or similar tools.

• Strong documentation, organization, and troubleshooting skills.

• Ability to work independently while coordinating with the broader R&D team.

  Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with promoter engineering, gene integration, copy number optimization, secretion pathway optimization, or expression cassette design.

• Prior experience modifying production strains for recombinant protein expression.

• Familiarity with sequence analysis, construct design tools, and primer design.

• Experience with protein expression screening and biochemical characterization.
  
  Knowledge of analytical methods for measuring protein concentration, activity, purity, or expression level.

• Experience maintaining strain banks and working with good laboratory documentation practices.

By the end of the 1-year project, the selected candidate is expected to deliver:

• Literature and protocol review relevant to strain modification for high-value protein production.

• Designed and documented strain modification strategy.

• Generated modified strain variants and verified constructs.

• Comparative expression data across modified strain candidates.

• Identification of lead strain candidates with improved protein production.

• Characterization data covering expression level, stability, reproducibility, and growth compatibility.

• Standard operating protocols for strain modification, screening, and expression evaluation.

• Troubleshooting notes and recommendations for future strain development.

• Complete strain records, construct documentation, lab records, analyzed datasets, and a final project report.
  
  
  
  Ideal Candidate Profile

  The ideal candidate is a hands-on molecular biologist with strong fundamentals in strain engineering and recombinant protein expression. They should be comfortable designing strain modification strategies, generating modified variants, screening expression levels, troubleshooting construct or expression-related issues, and documenting work clearly.