Help us make agriculture more sustainable

‍The Company

At Phytoform Labs, we believe in sustainable agriculture and nutrition for all. We see a lack of innovation in the agricultural space around the crops themselves, so we are building a multidisciplinary team to help rectify the situation. We have exciting growth plans over the next year and we are looking for a talented Data Scientist to join our computational team and help mature CRE.AI.TIVETM, our AI-driven platform for discovery and in silico. We are based at the world leading plant science institute Rothamsted Research just outside of London, United Kingdom.

The Role

If you are looking for a new challenge and like working with a multidisciplinary team then this job is for you. You will be working within the computational team, under the guidance of the Lead Data Scientist, to develop machine learning models for understanding the fundamental rules in plant genetics. Successful projects will be highly scalable and automated across a wide range of species, and results will be taken on by the wetlab team to be bred into new varieties, ultimately developing better crops. As a Data Scientist at Phytoform, you have the rare opportunity to be part of the full data cycle: training models on publicly available and in-house data, deploying them to generate new data and predictions, and then feeding these back into the model, all the while having the opportunity to contribute to improving both the AI model and the laboratory data.

You will:

• Implement and test existing known machine learning models
• Design innovative solutions for improving performance
• Maintain and contribute to the CRE.AI.TIVETM platform
• Deploy jobs on both the cloud and our on-prem machines
• Keep up to date with relevant AI research
• Closely collaborate with colleagues and remotely attend daily stand ups

Requirements

• You will have at least a PhD or two years industry experience in a relevant technical field
• Proficiency in the python programming language, and the ability to write good code according to software development best practices
• Experience coding in a team using git version control and writing tests
• Familiarity with the Linux operating system
• Fluent in the core machine learning concepts, as well as training and optimising neural network models
• The ability to communicate complex ideas across a multidisciplinary team

You get extra points if you:

• Solved sequence problems using deep learning
• Know biology, or have worked on bioinformatics and DNA sequence challenges
• Have worked on AI explainability
• Have a working knowledge of C / C++
• Have some familiarity multi-GPU accelerated AI research & CUDA
• Have worked with containers and their orchestration, as well as other MLOps tasks
• Worked in a start-up before
• Love plants as much as we do!

What we offer

• Competitive salary
• Share of the value you create through Employee Stock Option Plan
• The chance to work with a multidisciplinary team changing agriculture
• A flexible working arrangement: early or late working with core hours of 10am-4pm
• Working from home arrangements
• Access to a gym & tennis courts
• Access to the cycle to work scheme

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The Company

At Phytoform we believe in sustainable agriculture and nutrition for all. We see a lack of innovation in the agricultural space around the crops themselves, so we are building a multidisciplinary team to help rectify the situation. We have exciting growth plans over the next year and we are looking for a dedicated research technician to support our wet lab team. We are based at the world leading plant science institute Rothamsted Research just outside of London, United Kingdom.

The Role

If you are looking for a fast-paced environment, new challenges and like working with a multidisciplinary team, then this job is for you. You will be responsible for the oversight, management and development of our labs including our research technician team, as well as being a hands-on technician. You will be responsible for the service delivery and all activities and outputs relating to the laboratory. This will include maintenance of non-sterile and sterile plant material, DNA preparations (mini & midipreps) and media & consumable preparation for the wet lab. If you have previously been part of an academic or industry team, but now would like to work in a start-up environment then you would be a great fit.

You will:

• Provide direction, support and leadership of the team
• Track and maintain sterile growth and tissue culture of Arabidopsis, Potato & Tomato plants
• Track and maintain soil grown plants (collaborating with Rothamsted Research Greenhouse team)
• Prepare DNA for downstream applications (transformations, DNA minipreps & midipreps)
• Prepare custom media for plant tissue culture and general molecular biology
• Maintain wet lab consumable stocks

What you will bring:

• BSc Plant Sciences, Biology or a related subject.
• Research experience in a biological laboratory setting together with experience of managing staff and projects is required.
• You will be an inspiring leader with strong interpersonal and organisational skills with the ability to organise and develop the technical team.
• Experience in sterile working practices, preparing and maintaining media stocks.
• Experience of working with plants in both a laboratory environment and glasshouse.
• Practical experience of laboratory technician/biological scientific research work.
• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrable numeracy skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail, precision and accuracy, documentation skills and accurate record keeping.
• Great organisational and time management skills with the ability to prioritise, organise and coordinate a range of projects simultaneously.
• The ability to follow written protocols and instructions.
• A self-motivated, flexible and proactive approach to work, working under your own initiative, working out of hours if required.
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office Word and Excel. Experience of successfully using laboratory management software and project management software would be an advantage.
• A team player with an enthusiasm for working in a busy and evolving environment.

You get extra points if you:

• Have experience of molecular techniques including cloning and plasmid preparation
• Can demonstrate a strong record of laboratory experience and using a Laboratory Management System. If you bring experience of self-directed, multidisciplinary laboratory work that would be great.
• Have a plant tissue culture skillset.
• Have previous industry or start-up experience
• Love plants as much as we do

What we offer

• A competitive salary and share options
• The chance to work with a multidisciplinary team changing agriculture
• A flexible working arrangement: early or late working with core hours of 10am-4pm
• Access to a gym & tennis courts
• Access to the cycle to work scheme

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