Indigo improves grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health through the use of natural microbiology and digital technologies. Utilizing beneficial plant microbes and agronomic insights, Indigo works with growers to sustainably produce high quality harvests. The company then connects growers and buyers directly to bring these harvests to market. Working across the supply chain, Indigo is forwarding its mission of harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA, with additional offices in Memphis, TN, Research Triangle Park, NC, Sydney, Australia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil. http://www.indigoag.com/

Indigo is committed to living our values, specifically “creating a work environment where everyone feels respected, connected, and has opportunities to learn and grow.” As part of living our values, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels they can be themselves and has an equal opportunity of succeeding.

The role of Scientist, Microbial Sourcing and Evaluation, will be responsible for running day-to-day operations of Indigo’s high throughput in vitro and in planta screening pipeline. This person will be responsible for adapting and aligning our assay repertoire to quickly assess a microbe’s promise to become a commercial product.

Responsibilities:

• Become fully integrated with the screening team and fluent in performing all assays
  • Review current research pipeline and provide feedback on data
• Collaborate with the BioInnovation team to design experiments that meet the needs of downstream data analysis
• Know and own all essential processes for routine lab assays, from experimental planning through harvest, including:
  • Key data pipeline streams
  • Current assay throughput
  • Experimental design review to maximize efficiencies
• Create professional development plans with all direct reports
• Lead on project designs and communicate progress cross-functionally

Competencies:

• Knowledge of statistics; experience with R or another statistics coding language
• Curious; strong desire to continue learning
• Able to identify own opportunities for development
• Detail oriented and work in process-oriented environment
• Excellent written and oral communication
• Proven experience working cross-functionally and in a matrix management structure
• Team-centric in their approach to work; instinctively collaborative
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing project environment; an adaptable organizer and project manager who can quickly re-prioritize
• Enthusiastic about people management
• Work effectively with BioInnovation to ensure state of the art data capture, management, and analysis
• Understand and embody our mission & core values
  • Excited by Indigo’s mission; believe that Indigo can fundamentally change the agriculture industry; can clearly articulate passion for our mission and values
  • Optimistic and innovative; solution-oriented; shows no signs of cynicism
  • Will be widely viewed as someone who personifies our core values, is committed to them, and leans on them when making decisions. Specifically:
    • Demonstrates a track record of high integrity - doing the right thing, owning mistakes, conducting oneself honestly
    • Values, communicates and interacts with others with high levels of transparency and respect
    • Collaborates well across functions; creates an inspiring and collegial work environment

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in plant biology, microbiology, or plant physiology—a Ph.D. would be ideal, but significant professional experience can be used in place of education
• Experience in plant phenotyping, plant physiology is a plus
• Knowledge of biochemistry and agriculture are plusses
• Previous experience in fast-paced industrial setting preferred
• Understand the interactions between microbes and plants. Can provide insights on how to study the interaction and turn it into assays
• Previous experience with implementing automated solutions to high throughput biological assay screens
• Excellent communicator, capable of effectively describing and visualizing results with data; experience with data visualization software helpful
• Experience managing fast-paced teams of diverse backgrounds; fluent in plant-focused and microbe-focused research team structures
• Experience managing junior scientists and incorporating thoughtful plans for their professional development into their workflow

Indigo is committed to living our values, specifically “creating a work environment where everyone feels respected, connected, and has opportunities to learn and grow.” As part of living our values, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels they can be themselves and has an equal opportunity of succeeding.