Sr. Scientist, Cell Culture Media

About us

Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from animal cells.  These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. In a historic first, UPSIDE Foods received regulatory approval to sell its product in the US in June 2023.

Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck). The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood. UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.

About this job

UPSIDE has grown fast over the last two years, and the momentum continues! The Senior Scientist in the Cell Culture Media (CCM) group will be responsible for leading media development projects and navigating through complex data sets to develop cell culture media formulations. We’re looking for someone who enjoys a fast-paced working environment and is comfortable collaborating scientifically with direct team members as well as scientists in other departments such as cell line development, process development, and food R&D. If you are someone who loves delving deep into biochemical and physiological pathways while keeping practicality in mind, this is the role for you as we are seeking someone who can execute on a well thought out strategy for scalable cell culture media formulation for cultivated meat.

Responsibilities include… 

• Leads projects for developing cell culture media for various cell types and formats, e.g., suspension and adherent.
• Hands-on execution of media development and process optimization to establish robust and scalable cell culture processes.
• Serves as a subject matter expert for a mechanistic understanding of key factors and associated metabolic pathways relating to cell culture medium and process development.
• Mentors junior team members in designing and executing experiments while advancing the projects. 
• Evaluates and implement technologies to improve media efficiency, process productivity, and robustness. 

About You…

• Ph.D. in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, or closely related science with 5+ of research and development experience in the biopharmaceutical or similar industry. 
• B.S./M.S. candidates with 10+(BS) or 8+(MS) years of research and development experience in the biopharmaceutical, cell therapy, or similar industry are also encouraged to apply.
• Industrial cell culture media development experience with strong exposure to adherent media development. 
• Strong background in mechanistic media design, including nutritional biochemistry and metabolic pathway expertise engineering, cell therapy, and muscle biology backgrounds, are highly desirable.
• Fosters a team environment, collaborating scientifically with direct team members as well as scientists in other departments. Open to new ideas and often seeks critical feedback from colleagues, and demonstrates effective cooperation.
• Experience with concepts and techniques for developing high-performing suspension and adherent cell culture media and feeds.
• Working knowledge/understanding of scale-up considerations for cell culture media/process.
• Experience using SIMCA, JMP, or Python for navigating and analyzing large data sets.

Who you’ll work with…

• A talented team dedicated to optimizing media and processes to make a safe, cost-effective, and animal component-free cell culture medium.
• Media is used at every stage of the cultivated meat process. This role is expected to collaborate with upstream and downstream R&D teams in addition to manufacturing Ops, commercial production, and product development. 

Key Contributions in First Year…

• Execute/lead media development research projects from conception to completion within  6 months.
• Present and contribute meaningful data demonstrating steps toward achieving at least 1 goal for our cross-functional team within the first 3 months.
• Mentor team members within media development and cross-functionally to bring new knowledge and skills to the organization within the first 6 months.
• Lead and mentor a team of scientists/RAs to develop media formulations supporting SF/ACF goals in the 1st year.

Compensation Range: $95,250 - $165,000*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.

UPSIDE Benefits!

• Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
• 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
• Pet insurance for your furry family members!
• Unlimited PTO
• DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Council and People Engagement Programs
• Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.