The Role

Caladan Bio is seeking a mid-level Fermentation Engineer with strong hands-on experience in microbial fermentation and benchtop bioreactor operation. This role is intended for an engineer who can independently design and execute fermentation experiments, critically analyze data, and translate learnings into improved system performance and standardized workflows.

You will play a key role in validating and refining Caladan’s bioreactor platform across both hardware and software dimensions. In addition to experimental execution, you will contribute to best-practice development, lab infrastructure build-out, and customer-facing deployments. This position sits at the intersection of fermentation science, product development, and applied engineering.

This is a fast-moving startup environment with a high degree of ownership and autonomy. The ideal candidate is comfortable operating with limited supervision, communicating clearly across disciplines, and adapting quickly as priorities evolve.

What You'll Do

• Design, execute, and analyze microbial fermentation experiments using Caladan’s benchtop bioreactor systems to support internal R&D and external customer deployments.
• Develop, optimize, and document experimental protocols and best practices to ensure high-quality, reproducible fermentation data on Caladan platforms.
• Support the design, build-out, and start-up of a state-of-the-art microbial fermentation laboratory at Caladan HQ, including equipment selection and lab workflows.
• Troubleshoot system performance, experimental issues, and customer use cases; provide clear, actionable feedback to hardware and software engineering teams.
• Collaborate closely with R&D and product engineering to refine system performance, validate new features, and inform future product development.
• Maintain a well-organized laboratory environment, including inventory management, consumables tracking, and adherence to lab cleanliness and safety standards.
• Travel to customer sites as needed to support system installation, commissioning, and successful translation of customer fermentation processes onto Caladan platforms.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years of industry experience in microbial fermentation process development, with demonstrated independence designing, running, and analyzing lab-scale bioreactor experiments.
• BS or higher in Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Biotechnology, or a related field.
• Strong working knowledge of microbial fermentation fundamentals, including bioreactor design and operation, gas-liquid mass transfer, mixing, process control, media formulation, and scale-relevant considerations.
• General understanding of microbial physiology and metabolism, including how growth, nutrient availability, stress responses, and byproduct formation influence fermentation performance and process behavior.
• Experience designing experiments, interpreting fermentation data, and iterating on processes to improve performance or reproducibility.
• Experience with laboratory best practices, process development methodologies, and common analytical techniques used in fermentation workflows.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot complex experimental and system-level issues in a structured, hypothesis-driven manner.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment with shifting priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong organizational habits, attention to detail, and a willingness to continuously learn new tools and techniques.

Nice to Have

• Experience spanning both microbial fermentation and cell culture systems.
• Hands-on familiarity with multiple bioreactor platforms and control architectures.
• Experience working with a range of common microbial hosts, including bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi.
• Ability to write and maintain Python scripts for data analysis and visualization, automation, or control logic.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and comfort working directly with sensors, fluid handling systems, and instrumentation.

Why Join Us

• Take ownership of technically meaningful work on a rapidly evolving bioreactor platform.
• Directly influence product performance, usability, and customer success.
• Work in a highly collaborative, hands-on environment alongside experts in fermentation, hardware, and software.
• Competitive salary ($110k–$140k) plus benefits, including medical, vision, and dental coverage.

About Caladan Bio

Caladan Bio is building the next generation of biomanufacturing technology. Backed by Twelve Below, Lerer Hippeau, Collaborative Fund, and Wireframe VC, we are enabling industrial biotechnology and biopharma companies to move faster by dramatically increasing benchtop experimentation throughput. Our platform combines advanced bioreactor hardware, software, and analytics to accelerate learning and shorten the path from early R&D to commercialization.