Manufacturing Engineer (New Product Introduction)

About us

Vow is a cultured meat company on a mission to feed billions and create food that’s good for your tastebuds, your health and your planet.

We’re bringing together cutting edge innovations in science, engineering, culinary and design to create new meats that meat lovers can choose selfishly because it’s nutritious and delicious, and we’re doing so in a sustainable way.

The role:

We’re on the lookout for a Manufacturing Engineer who thrives on tackling complex, ambiguous challenges. If you’re someone who sees opportunity in uncertainty and has a track record of innovating solutions when there’s no clear path forward, we want to hear from you.

In this hands-on role, you will collaborate with a cross-functional team throughout the product launch lifecycle, from pilot scale to full production ramp-up. You will engage directly with other engineers, operators, scientists, and other technical team members to drive and coordinate the implementation of large-scale processes and equipment for cultured meat production. Your responsibilities will involve designing and validating key pieces of equipment, with a specific focus on optimising equipment for its intended purpose in a manufacturing process. Additionally, you will serve as a technical resource for the Manufacturing Production team, offering support on troubleshooting and continuous improvement activities..

You will have the opportunity to work across  a variety of different equipment used to produce cultured meat at scale, such as stainless steel stirred tank bioreactors (200L - 20kL), mixing/fluid transfer and separation equipment 

The experience/skills you will bring:

• An Engineering qualification  or equivalent experience
• Experience specifically with optimising equipment to enhance its performance within a manufacturing process, ideally with regards to mixing/fluid transfer and separation technologies
• Proven experience in implementing food manufacturing and packing line facilities/processes
• Knowledge of Food HACCP plans or Quality Management Systems (ISO9001, ISO13485, or similar)
• Experience developing SOPs in academia or industry
• High degree of technical competence and scientific awareness
• Flexibility to carry out shift work or weekend work if required
• Ability to work effectively within a close-knit team environment as well as a diverse cross-functional department
• Nice to have: Experience with brewing, fermentation, or bioreactor operation up to 20,000 L, ideally in stainless steel bioreactors with an emphasis on mammalian cell culture

You will:

•  Oversee the scale up of processes and equipment from small  to pilot and demo scales Support development of robust and scalable processes for different cell lines at pilot (>200L) scale.
• Troubleshoot biological (e.g. cell growth inhibition), chemical (e.g. pH regulation) and physical (e.g. oxygen mass transfer) process problems during equipment & process design and scale up
• Troubleshoot hardware problems (e.g. mechanical, automation) during scale up
• Forecast industry trends, challenges, and opportunities, and translate these into impactful projects and strategy to drive continuous process improvement
• Optimise processes and equipment to improve cost, speed and quality
• Follow process data and quality after implementation into Production. Evaluate and troubleshoot problems that may arise in newly transferred equipment/processes.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of new technologies for next-generation biological manufacturing processes to manipulate product characteristics e.g. texturisation, protein content, etc
• Mentor and coach junior engineers and technicians

What success looks like:

• First month: You will work within our New Product Introduction team to learn the ins and outs of our manufacturing process, and our pilot- and demo-scale facilities. You will develop a deep understanding of technology and manufacturing goals at a company level, and will be able to suggest approaches to achieve these goals.
• First three months: You will have worked closely with our technology and manufacturing teams, and you will have taken technical ownership of one or more New Product Introduction projects.
• First year: You will have significantly contributed to optimising and implementing scaled processes for a number of different cell line and media combinations. You will also have leveraged your deep knowledge of bioprocess to introduce new product characteristics via process changes/manipulation, resulting in new & delicious product prototypes. You will also have contributed to shaping what Vow’s production process looks like beyond pilot and demo scales. You will have helped train, mentor and grow a team of operators to rapidly drive process development and optimisation.

Who we are and why join:

• We are building a diverse, mission-led dream team of “Vowzers.” Our mission is to make food products for everyone. To do that well we need a workforce that’s representative of the people we serve. We celebrate multiple approaches and points of view - so we’re building a culture to match. Be yourself and come as you are.
• Work on cutting-edge technology. We’re bringing together cutting-edge innovations in science, engineering, and food, to recreate the world’s most tantalising and unique culinary experiences. All without compromising on ethics or our planet along the way. Since our inception in 2019, we have held the title of being the first startup to cultivate meat from the cells of an undomesticated animal, been called The Spaceship of the cultured meat industry by Forbes and launched our first product under the brand Forged in some of the hottest restaurants in Singapore. 
• Work with and learn from the best. Our team includes some of the world’s top scientists, innovators, operators, and creatives with decades of industry experience. Despite our experiences though, we all strive to build, break, learn, and repeat. We see the impossible as temporary and strive to learn and support our company and fellow Vowzers' growth as much as possible.
• We’re fully funded and ready to go. We are a growing Aussie biotech start-up backed by Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Tenacious Ventures, P7 Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and PeakBridge VC.

Vow perks and benefits:

• Everyone is an owner. In addition to competitive base salaries, each and every ‘Vowzer’ owns equity in the company so we can all benefit from our hard work and future success.
• Generous paid parental leave. We offer 8 weeks of paid caregiver leave and an additional 8 weeks paid leave for the birth giver.
• Generous relocation budget & support. Support for interstate or overseas team members and their families.
• Unlimited personal leave. At Vow we recognise that sometimes sh*t happens. We don’t want you to stress about work when you need to deal with an emergency or are struggling with something truly difficult. We offer unlimited personal leave to empower you to truly bring your best self to work every single day.
• Heaps of tasty samples from our culinary centre. Our fantastic "food inventors" on the Vow team are always cooking up new product prototypes, and all Vowzers are given the opportunity to taste, give feedback, and learn from their culinary prowess.
• An awesome converted warehouse “campus” in Alexandria. Complete with a glass-walled lab, 2 factories, shower and towel service, bike rack, free snacks, a culinary centre and plenty of collaboration and chill zones. 
• Human and dog friendly office! An inclusive community and culture, in a welcoming office, complete with friendly “Vowzer” dogs!
• A variety of social clubs. We encourage all our Vowzers to build the culture with us and share what you love by creating social clubs across the business. From book clubs to hiking groups, we’re always looking for ways to learn and engage with our team.