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/

The role of Senior Engineer, Seed Applications will be responsible for designing, conducting, and analyzing experiments that support the development of Indigo’s microbial seed treatments and their use in large scale, commercial seed treaters. The primary responsibilities of the position will be to develop protocols and characterization techniques that assess key characteristics of Indigo’s seed treatment formulations on seed and in seed treatment equipment. These efforts will be to support existing commercial products as well as the development of new, unproven products that are part of the Indigo R&D pipeline. This position is a laboratory based, hands on position that will interact closely with the Formulations, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams. 

Responsibilities:

• Establish and conduct experiments to characterize Indigo microbial seed treatments as they are applied to a variety of crops. Methods will assess characteristics such as:
  • Rheology of formulations in seed treaters
  • Seed coverage and uniformity
  • Dust off
  • Flowability
  • Plantability
  • Cleanability of formulations
• Work closely with the Formulations team to evaluate Indigo microbial formulations in lab scale equipment that correlate to use at large scale, commercial seed treaters.
  • Identify the limitations of these formulations and provide feedback to the Formulations team for further development.
• Identify and procure equipment to conduct scale down seed treatment for characterization and seed treatment protocol development
• Develop seed treatment protocols and support tech transfer of these protocols to seed treatment partners.
• Create a database of Indigo seed treatment partners that includes process flow diagrams, equipment specifications, and relevant details of individual seed treatment processes.

Competencies:

• Expertise, experience, and/or the ability to apply background to seed treatment processes and equipment.
• Expertise and/or ability to apply background to the characterization of seed treatments and seed coatings. This includes the practical knowledge to perform the seed treatments and analytical techniques themselves.
• Design, conduct, and analyze experiments. This is a laboratory based, hands on position. 
• Ability to read and create process flow diagrams.
• Communicate findings with the Formulations, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams.
• Team player and advisor to Formulations, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams.
• Ability to operate and repair seed treatment equipment and associated analytical equipment. Ability to “turn a wrench”. 
• Experience or ability to potentially lead a small R&D team.
• Forward thinking, innovative, flexible, and able to change directions rapidly.
• Work in a safe manner in both laboratory and production environments.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in seed treatment or a field such as coatings, process development, or other relevant industries.
• Minimum of a Bachelors degree in engineering; physical, material, or biological sciences; agriculture; or other relevant field of study.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and ability to trouble shoot equipment and processes.
• Strong background in experimental design and analysis of experimental data.
• Prior experience taking unproven seed treatment formulations or relevant coating technologies from the lab to commercial scale.
• Experience in a technical service environment is a plus.
• The position is based in Boston and requires a full-time presence in Boston.
• Able to travel up to 20% of the time, including some international travel.