Research Scientist

at  WILMAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Wilmar International Limited is Asia’s leading agribusiness group. Wilmar International business activities include oil palm cultivation, edible oils refining, oilseeds crushing, consumer pack edible oils processing and merchandising, specialty fats, oleochemicals, and biodiesel manufacturing, and grains processing and merchandising. It has over 500 manufacturing plants and an extensive distribution network covering China, India, Indonesia and some 50 other countries. The Group is backed by a multinational workforce of about 100,000 people.
Wilmar International Limited invites applications for 1 Research Scientist (RS) position. The RS will be responsible for the goals set out for the project(s) of interest. The principal role of the RS will be to engineer and optimize microorganisms such as yeast for application in production of industrial chemicals.

QUALIFICATIONS

The applicant should:

• Hold a Ph.D. specialized in microbial strain engineering/optimization for biochemical production;
• Demonstrate passion and innovation for synthetic biology/metabolic engineering-related projects, and applying research findings for industrialization;
• Have a good knowledge on gene transcription/translation/regulation, metabolic pathway manipulation in microbial strains such as yeast;
• Have hands-on experience on molecular cloning, genetic parts, microbial engineering/ fermentation, and analytics;
• Demonstrate a can-do attitude and a sense of urgency;
• Be able to work independently and in a team.

The Research Scientist is expected to:

• Develop and optimize microorganisms such as yeast and relevant bioprocess for cost-effective production of industrial chemicals;
• Design, plan, and conduct experiments independently to meet the project deliverables;
• Generate/analyze the data/results, generate report and communicate the project progress to team lead, collaborator, or the head of department;
• Troubleshoot for the project when needed;
• Keep up with project-related developments through literature/patent surveys;
• Collaborate with project-related academia and industry;
• Deliver other duties/projects as delegated by the team lead or the head of department.