Chief Technology Officer - Bioprocess Engineering (gn) @ Alternative Protein Startup, Leipzig

About Pacifico

We are a biotech company on a mission to unlock the potential of fermentation to revolutionize the global food system, creating the next generation of protein alternatives. In our first year, we have developed our core fermentation technology, multiple products that we plan to launch into the market, and raised significant venture capital funding.

Our team is united by a shared passion for our mission, combining scientific and business skill sets to create a fast-paced and collaborative culture. We are backed by some of the leading European food-tech and sustainability VC investors. We are based in Berlin and Leipzig.

You won’t see our company name here as we are currently in ‘stealth mode’. Our focus is on developing our tech, rather than building a brand and public image at this stage!

Your Role & Responsibilities

We’re looking for an experienced process engineer and aspiring entrepreneur to join our CEO and CSO, taking full ownership of the scale-up and technical development of our biomass fermentation process to drive our alternative protein technology. You need to be someone who embraces the opportunity to roll up your sleeves and build something new!  This is an opportunity to create practical solutions to some of the biggest problems facing our world: ecosystem collapse, climate change, and meeting the world’s growing protein requirement. Join us to help shape the future of the global food system!

You will work with our scientific co-founder (CSO) and upstream fermentation team to lead the scale-up of the upstream & downstream fermentation processes while supporting optimization efforts in parallel to our product development. You will be one of the first members of our Scale-up & Process Engineering Team with the opportunity to build a team around you, playing a pivotal role in shaping the company.

You will play a key role in pilot and production plant design, plant and process control & automation, and cost optimisation in bioreactors up to and beyond 10,000 L.

Main Tasks

• Join our co-Founders (CEO and CSO) in building and running the company, across fundraising, hiring, scaling, and everything else!

• Lead all technical areas in scaling up the bioprocess including:

  • Pilot plant and equipment design

  • Process control, automation, and scale-up

  • Technical process design, and cost optimisation

  • Simulations to drive process improvements and TEA

  • Ensuring product quality and consistency

• Building a process engineering team around you

What you need to succeed in this role

Required skills and experience:

• PhD or equivalent, and/or M.Sc. (with relevant industry experience) in: chemical engineering, process engineering, biochemical engineering, industrial engineering, or similar field

• Proven experience driving the scale-up of bioprocesses at pilot, demo and production scale:

  • Planning and designing food/biotechnology plants

  • Designing experiments using DOE, including data analysis - multivariate data analysis, kinetic analysis and modeling/simulation of fermentation processes

  • Set-up and operation of reactors in batch, fed-batch or continuous fermentation

  • Selection and design of standard components in plant engineering such as reactor vessels, pumps, fittings, valves, air control system and piping design, SIP and CIP, as well as associated measurement and control technology

  • Well-versed in process control and automation, bioprocess simulation and TEA

• Experience in leading and building teams

• Experience in generating and managing IP

• Excellent communication skills in English (German is not required, but is a plus)

Additional skills/qualities that will be useful/preferred:

• Proactive mindset, with strong problem solving skills

• Hands-on experience with state-of-the-art bioreactors

• Experience operating bioreactors at pilot, demo, or commercial scales

• Affinity for data science or kinetic modeling using open-source tools like R, Python

• Experience valorizing liquid or side-streams from food or related industries

• Experience handling photosynthetic organisms, fungi, or bacteria