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 building a first of its kind cultured meat factory in Sydney. This factory will make Vow’s first product, serve as a model for all of Vow’s future factories, as well as act as a testing and training ground for new technologies and processes.

As an Industrial Automation / Mechatronics Engineer at Vow you'll be responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining automated equipment for commercial manufacturing of cultured meat.

You’ll use your technical knowledge and work with a world-class team to make delicious food that is tastier, more nutritious, more sustainable, and ultimately more affordable than what we eat today.

The experience you will bring:

• Experience designing and fabricating and/or assembling pieces of automated equipment, including control systems
• Ability to select, install and integrate common industrial actuators (e.g. motors and valves) and sensors (e.g. absorbance, conductivity, pH, temperature, pressure, flow, load and level)
• Ability to safely design systems to relevant (Australian/international) standards, select and assemble electrical components for power and signals systems (e.g. control cabinets, field wiring and instrumentation), and integrate actuators and sensors into these systems
• Have an electrical license and some relevant industrial experience
• Familiarity with common industrial communications protocols and physical layers (e.g. Modbus, Profinet/bus, Ethernet, RS485)
• Software experience (especially Python)
• Familiarity with industrial automation software and hardware (PLCs, HMIs, structured text, ladder logic)

Bonus if you have:

• Familiarity with food or bioprocessing equipment (e.g. mixers, fermenters, pumps, filters, centrifuges)
• Strong bias towards anyone doing any kind of hobby/outside work experimentation with any of these things

You will:

• You will design and build automated processing equipment, including control systems, that enable Vow to increase its manufacturing capacity from tons per year to tons per week
• Involve users in the development of your systems, especially initially in determining user requirements
• Translate user requirements into hardware and software designs, documented in an appropriate manner (e.g. piping and instrumentation diagram, functional design specification, system architecture document, electrical drawing)
• Work with vendors to source parts or subsystems as fast as possible
• Work with vendors and Vowzers to assemble and test the system
• Perform a high-quality handover of the system to the user, including successful user acceptance testing, training, operation and maintenance manuals, and a commitment to appropriate ongoing support
• Build a world-first cultured meat factory that will serve as the prototype and inspiration for all that follow!

What success looks like:

• In the first month, you’ll help finish a work-in-progress automated food processing system, or improve an in-use system.
• By the end of 3 months, you’ll be designing and building a new automated food processing system.
• In your first year, you’ll deliver multiple automated food processing systems that enable a world-first cultured meat product, materially reduce cost and improve quality in existing products and processes.

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.

You don’t have to have every listed requirement and skill to be a great fit - you may even teach us something about what we should be looking for! If you are passionate about this opportunity and think you have the skills to succeed, please apply! If not, but you know someone who might be interested, please share this post.