Location: Verschuren Centre, Sydney, Nova Scotia
Employment: Full-time, 1-year contract (extension possible)
Salary: Starting at $60,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
About BryoSphere
BryoSphere Biotechnologies engineers moss and other plant systems to produce high-value bioactive ingredients for skincare. We combine plant biochemistry, metabolic engineering, and bioprocess development to bring sustainable ingredients to market.
The Role
We are looking for a practical, independent scientist to take ownership of BryoSphere's pilot-scale cultivation and downstream process development program.
Working closely with the BryoSphere and Verschuren Centre teams, you will lead day-to-day pilot operations, plan and execute experiments, coordinate technical activities, troubleshoot challenges, and help advance our manufacturing process from pilot production toward commercial scale.
This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys solving technical problems, takes initiative, communicates clearly, and thrives in a fast-paced startup environment.
Responsibilities
- Lead day-to-day pilot-scale moss cultivation, including inoculum preparation, culture monitoring, harvesting, troubleshooting, and batch execution.
- Develop, optimize, and execute downstream processing and extraction workflows.
- Plan and carry out experiments to improve extraction efficiency, reproducibility, and scalability.
- Analyze experimental results and independently recommend next steps and process improvements.
- Coordinate technical activities with BryoSphere, the Verschuren Centre, and external collaborators.
- Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory and pilot-scale equipment.
- Prepare samples for HPLC, LC-MS, spectrophotometric, or related analyses (training can be provided).
- Maintain SOPs, batch records, and technical documentation.
- Communicate project progress, technical challenges, and proposed solutions clearly with the team.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Bioprocess Engineering, or a related field. PhD applicants are welcome, but the role is primarily suited to candidates with strong practical experience.
- Hands-on experience working with biological cultivation systems (plant, microbial, algal, mammalian, fermentation, or cell culture).
- Experience independently planning, executing, and troubleshooting laboratory or pilot-scale experiments.
- Experience with downstream processing, extraction, analytical chemistry, natural products, fermentation, cell culture, or related bioprocesses.
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent documentation and organizational skills.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively within a small multidisciplinary team.
- A practical, hands-on scientist who enjoys building, improving, and optimizing processes.
- Comfortable learning new techniques and adapting as company needs evolve.
Assets
- Experience with natural products or specialty ingredients.
- Experience with solvent extraction, filtration, membrane separation, drying, chromatography, or other downstream processing techniques.
- Experience with HPLC, LC-MS, or spectrophotometric analysis.
- Experience scaling laboratory processes to pilot scale.
- Experience in a startup, manufacturing, or applied research environment.
- Experience operating pilot-scale equipment or industrial bioprocesses.
How to Apply
Please send your CV or résumé and a short cover letter to careers@bryosphere.ca with the subject line:
LastName_Downstream Processing Scientist