Job Details

Scientist, Enzyme Engineering

Huminly, Inc.

San Carlos, CA

Full-time employee

Company mission and culture

The world of fashion is facing a major reckoning. Over 100 million tons of textiles go to waste each year, of which less than 1% goes back into new clothing. Existing recycling methods are unable to handle the heterogeneity of textile waste - until now.

Huminly uses enzymes to enable infinite recycling of textiles. We're hellbent on improving textile-to-textile recycling from less than 1% to over 90% in the next 4-5 years before taking on global plastic pollution more broadly over the next decade. We couple unprecedented efficiency in enzyme engineering with state-of-the-art computational modeling to develop high-performing enzymes for recycling. Using just water, salt, and enzyme, we distill the different materials in textile waste and harness them to make brand-new clothes, over and over again.

We have a revolutionary technology and a culture of relentlessness here at Huminly. We are building Huminly because we can't fathom how society's single-use economy makes sense for future generations and can't bear to witness Mother Earth get covered in textile and plastic waste. We're recruiting passionate warriors who are ready to stand up for this planet.

Your role at our company

Scientists at Huminly innovate at the cutting edge of fundamental science with the goal of creating tangible impact in enabling textile recycling. As an Enzyme Engineering Scientist, you will serve an instrumental role by building the core technology that powers Huminly: our high-throughput screening platform.

From designing DNA constructs to quantifying enzyme activity, you will work closely with us to implement and expand our workflows for identifying enzyme variants with improved activity towards polyester-cotton fabric. This interdisciplinary role is perfect for the bold and ambitious: your day-to-day will span designing enzyme libraries, executing high-throughput screening workflows, and performing advanced chemical characterization. As you grow in this role, you will expand the same workflows to other polyester-containing fabrics while augmenting our computational enzyme models through all the data you collect.

As a founding team member, you will work alongside a highly motivated team in a fast-paced, mission-driven work environment. Every improved enzyme you help discover will accelerate our recycling reactors and propel us on our journey to scale and impact.

This role will be a great fit for you if you:

• Have a M.S. or Ph.D. in Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or related field, or equivalent experience
• Have undertaken directed evolution campaigns for protein and/or enzyme engineering involving gene mutagenesis libraries
• Have developed and validated high-throughput plate-based assays
• Are comfortable managing multiple parallel workflows in lab at any given time
• Are experienced in standard analytical techniques involving plate readers and mass spectrometry
• Have developed or employed computational tools to analyze large data sets
• Routinely leverage constrained resources to meet ambitious experimental timelines while generating high-quality data
• Prioritize speed, efficiency, and creativity to cover ground and deliver results as quickly as possible

We offer competitive salary and equity compensation commensurate to experience, along with medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage.

Please note this role will require frequent standing and walking for extensive periods of time as well as repetitive motion.