About us

Vow is a food company - a very different one. We’re creating real meat products from animal cells instead of the animal itself.

We’re bringing together cutting edge innovations in science, engineering, culinary and design to make sustainable food that’s both irresistible and available to billions of people worldwide.

The role:

Vow is looking for a creative and passionate Research Scientist. You’ll have the opportunity to solve one of the most interesting challenges in the food industry that has the potential to impact millions of people and make positive waves for our planet.

You will collaborate with some seriously impressive Scientists, Chefs, Software Engineers, and Product Managers to define the links between cell and molecular biology, growth media, materials science and the food produced at the end. You’ll be empowered to find better ways to do things.

Our problems are more than just discovery - you will be working in a fast-paced environment on the nexus of automation, data science and biology, growing real products to put in the hands of customers as soon as humanly possible, all without any harm to animals. 

What you’ll do:

• Lead one or more research projects on exciting topics including cell line development, media optimisation, bioreactor design and scale-up.
• Mentor a team of highly motivated, passionate scientists.
• Contribute strategic scientific ideas for long term data acquisition and analysis.
• Learn and establish new assays and pipelines.
• Collaborate with our team of engineers to solve some of our biggest scientific problems in new, better and faster ways.
• Collaborate with chef’s, food inventors and product designers to create some of the most amazing food products the world has ever seen! 

What you’ll bring:

• First and foremost, you are known for your commitment to scientific excellence. This, and changing the way the world eats is something we take very seriously at Vow. 
• A PhD in a relevant area (cell or molecular biology, developmental biology, cancer biology, regenerative medicine, cellular metabolism, physiology, materials science etc.), or 5+ years in a relevant industry role.  
• While not required, experience in bioinformatics and working with large -omic style datasets is highly desirable
• Experience mentoring or managing others.
• Experience in developing and running cell-based assays and/or tissue engineering.

Ultimately this role will be shaped around the right candidate. If you love the mission and have evidence that you can make a strong contribution towards it, we want to speak to you.  

What success looks like

During your first month you will have successfully integrated yourself into one of Vow’s program teams and you will be guiding a project critical to Vow’s success. By the end of the first month you should be able to point to how your work is swinging the pendulum towards success.

Within three months you will have completed multiple projects and helped make key prioritisation decisions on what work should continue versus what should be terminated. You will have developed key analytical pipelines so that your work is easily reproducible and can be performed quickly and easily by others.

By the end of your first year at Vow you will have helped ensure our first product has been brought to market and that we have multiple additional products ready to go. You will have also helped train and mentor a growing team of scientists and engineers capable of pushing the boundaries of cell biology. 

VOW, MORE THAN JUST A JOB. 

Who we are and why join:

• We are building a diverse, mission-led dream team of “Vowzers.” Our mission is to make food products for everyone. To do that well we need a workforce that’s representative of the people we serve. We celebrate multiple approaches and points of view - so we’re building a culture to match. Be yourself and come as you are.
• Work on cutting-edge technology. We’re bringing together cutting-edge innovations in science, engineering, and food, to recreate the world’s most tantalising and unique culinary experiences. All without compromising on ethics or our planet along the way. Since our inception in 2019, we have held the title of being the first startup to cultivate meat from the cells of an undomesticated animal, and have served up our exotic meats ranging from kangaroo dumplings to alpaca sliders in tastings with world-renowned chefs.
• Work with and learn from the best. Our team includes some of the world’s top scientists, innovators, operators, and creatives with decades of industry experience. Despite our experiences though, we all strive to build, break, learn, and repeat. We see the impossible as temporary and strive to learn and support our company and fellow Vowzers' growth as much as possible.
• We’re fully funded and ready to go. We are a growing Aussie biotech start-up backed by Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Tenacious Ventures, P7 Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and PeakBridge VC.

Vow perks and benefits:

• Everyone is an owner. In addition to competitive base salaries, each and every ‘Vowzer’ owns equity in the company so we can all benefit from our hard work and future success.
• Generous paid parental leave. We offer 8 weeks of paid caregiver leave and an additional 8 weeks paid leave for the birth giver.
• Generous relocation budget & support. Support for interstate or overseas team members and their families (including pets!)
• Flexible working hours and location. We value work-life balance. While we’re mostly back in the office, you’re free to choose the best way for you to work.
• Unlimited personal leave. At Vow we recognise that sometimes you need time off to recuperate, look after your mental health, or simply deal with an emergency. We put unlimited personal leave in place to empower you to truly bring your best self to work every single day and you are always paid for days taken off as personal leave.
• Heaps of tasty samples from our culinary centre. Our fantastic "food inventors" on the Vow team are always cooking up new product prototypes, and all Vowzers are given the opportunity to taste, give feedback, and learn from their culinary prowess.
• An awesome converted warehouse “campus” in Alexandria. Complete with a glass-walled lab, manufacturing line, free snacks, a culinary centre, and professional-grade coffee machine in our cafe, as well as a DIY workshop for all hands-on projects.
• Human and dog friendly office! An inclusive community and culture, in a welcoming office, complete with friendly “Vowzer” dogs!
• A variety of social clubs. We encourage all our Vowzers to build the culture with us and share what you love by creating social clubs across the business. From book clubs to hiking groups, we’re always looking for ways to learn and engage with our team.

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