Associate Scientist – Entomology

at  Renaissance Bioscience Corp

CAREER OPPORTUNITY – ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST – ENTOMOLOGY

Renaissance BioScience Corp. is a leading global biological engineering company. We believe biology can transform our world by creating the things we need in healthier, more productive, and sustainable ways. Using our proprietary biological engineering platform, we create transformative solutions to real-world problems in global industries like food and beverage, agriculture, chemicals, and healthcare.
Looking for scientists, entrepreneurs, and imagineers.
We spend our waking hours custom crafting microorganisms that help us feed and fuel humanity.
Interested in joining us? Let’s talk.

OUR EMPLOYEE VALUES:

1. Communication = Open, honest, and effective communication is the cornerstone of how we work.
2. Teamwork = We are accountable individually and as part of a team. Every person—across all departments and levels—are valuable members of our team.
3. Entrepreneurship = Our company is founded on an entrepreneurial mindset driving technological innovation in biology. Asking “what’s possible”, and questioning “what’s not.”
   To help build our leading research and development team, we aim to hire smart people who are self-starters and results oriented. If you are a team player looking for an opportunity to grow your career at a fast-paced, rapidly growing life sciences company, please consider applying for the opportunity below today.

POSITION SUMMARY

Renaissance is looking for a collaborative and detail orientated Associate Scientist – Entomology to join our Research Team. This role will be based out of our offices located on the University of British Columbia’s main campus, in beautiful Vancouver, BC.
Reporting to the Research Scientist - Entomology, the Associate Scientist – Entomology will be responsible for carrying out a wide range of research projects with a focus on in-vivo assay execution, and insect colony establishment and optimization. The primary responsibilities of this role are the design, set-up and execution of relevant insect bioassays to characterize yeast-based RNAi technology as a pest control strategy. Projects are highly focused and based on the priorities of the group, with a strong emphasis on the continued development and implementation of our current bioassay and expansion into other relevant agricultural pest species over time.
As a member of the Entomology Team, the Associate Scientist – Entomology will be responsible for developing and overseeing several insect-based projects through collaborations with industrial and academic partners. Additionally, there will be opportunities to work in cross-departmental groups to achieve broader company goals and to advise junior staff members.
This is a core role in our strain development pipeline for creating novel yeast biotechnologies used in crop protection and other agricultural applications. The successful candidate will be involved in cutting-edge research with the goal of translating results from the lab into real-world products in the field. Discoveries will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as in patents.
Our ideal candidate is a recent graduate who thrives on creative problem solving and has a solid background in insect rearing, bioassay development, and implementation.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

· MSc or PhD in Entomology, Zoology, Biology, Agriculture, Environmental Sciences, or a related field or the equivalent education and experience.
· Technical proficiency and experience working with and maintaining insects, and in the development of insecticidal bioassays.
· Experience in the design and execution of in vivo experiments in a model organism.
· Technical proficiency and experience in working with plants or in the agricultural field is an asset.
· Demonstrated ability to evaluate and validate existing and novel methods and assays through literature research and assay development.
· Strong leadership, teamwork, and collaboration skills.
· Entrepreneurial attitude—thrives in a fast-paced and challenging environment and works towards solving problems in a pragmatic and effective manner.
· Strong scientific creativity skills and independent thought.
· Strong and clear communication both written and verbally and through presentations using honest, and effective communication.

· Independently design, conduct, analyze and interpret entomological projects and experiments to test engineered RNAi effector producing yeast strains, with a goal towards maximal throughput.
· Perform daily tasks for the set up and execution of a variety of bioassays, maintenance of insect colonies (including Coleopterans, Lepidopterans, and other invertebrates), and the relevant cultivar crops.
· Identify novel insect or other species as a relevant bioassay for testing the efficacy of RNAi effector delivery.
· Critically assess current methods and protocols and identify areas for efficiency, improvements, and innovation.
· Critically analyze scientific and bioassay data, including data QC, interpretation, and troubleshooting.
· Communicate project and process results, successes, challenges and ideas.
· Regularly update management, the R&D team, and the company on project progress.
· Adapt quickly to keep up with changing business priorities while balancing multiple projects simultaneously.
· Assist with the design, development, and implementation of new platform technologies.
· Stay up to date with current relevant scientific literature.
· Foster an entrepreneurial mindset—bring new innovative ideas to the table and challenge the status quo.
· Foster an ongoing collaborative environment—leverage peer skillsets and experience to advance your own projects and offer your experience to help progress other team projects.
· Contribute to writing peer-reviewed scientific publications, grants and patent applications.
· Additional duties, as requested.