Head of Microbial Automation & Culturomics Core Facility at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

About the team/job

EMBL is a world leader in scientific research and at the forefront in the development of cutting-edge technologies. Research at EMBL is supported by the development of enabling technologies that are made available to the scientific community in its core facilities, eight of which are currently located at EMBL Heidelberg. Core facilities provide unique tools, expert advice and service for life scientists at EMBL and member states.

EMBL is seeking an experienced and highly motivated microbiologist to establish and head a new Core Facility on Microbial Automation & Culturomics in Heidelberg. This facility will enable high-throughput and when possible automated, approaches in cultivation, genetic manipulation and phenotyping of microbial species in isolation or in communities. It will feature controlled environment chambers, containing cutting-edge automation so that microbial communities can be grown, deconvoluted (i.e. individual members isolated) and quantitatively phenotyped in bulk and single-cell. In addition, it will provide the infrastructure for establishing genetic tools in poorly studied microbes, and will develop and distribute genome-wide genetic tools (mutant loss-of and gain-of function libraries) for different microbial species and strains. The initial focus will be on bacteria, especially those of the human gut microbiome. The Microbial Automation & Culturomics facility will be used by different research groups across all EMBL sites, and in the future also by external visitors. It will support research projects with a broad scientific spectrum on microbial genetics and phenotyping. One part of the services will include large-scale screening of chemical libraries on microbes/microbial communities. The space for the facility has been recently renovated, and the facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and team of 5-6 people over the next 2 years.

EMBL’s newly launched scientific Program Molecules to Ecosystems aims to further understand of the molecular mechanisms of biological processes in the context of the environment and to provide translational potential to support advances in human and planetary health. Microbes and their communities are the focus of the Microbial Ecosystems Transversal Theme, but are also highly relevant to all other Transversal Themes of the current Program (Infection Biology, Human Ecosystems, Planetary Biology & Theory). New capabilities developed within the Microbial Automation & Culturomics Core Facility will enable EMBL researchers and the broader research community to perform experiments at scale, and provide new resources and tools for understudied bacteria and their communities. 

Your role

This position is a fantastic opportunity to develop a new type of service within EMBL but also more broadly for the field. You will have the ability to hire and lead a team at the cutting-edge of technology development in a very exciting area at a world leading institute. You will be involved in many ongoing projects and activities and will collaborate with experts from the scientific community and have the possibility to acquire new state-of-the-art skills.

As one of the members of Core Facilities you will have a strong influence on establishing a collaborative culture and organization, and have a pivotal role in developing exciting methods and applications that will expand our ability to answer interesting biological fields across diverse research areas across EMBL.

As Head of the Microbial Automation & Culturomics Core Facility, you will:

• Lead and develop the facility in response to users’ needs.
• Lead a team of scientists, technicians and computational developers.
• Provide a Microbial Centre of Expertise for all EMBL research and service groups- this involves project consultancy, planning and support with execution
• Interact closely with other core facilities and EMBL Services on multi-omics to develop integrated workflows for automation and screening.
• Ensure the smooth, safe and flexible operation of a state-of-the art microbial automation lab, which features and co-develops approaches to cultivate, genetically manipulate and phenotype microbes and their communities at scale.
• For interested candidates, the position could be combined in the future with a Research Team Leader position, embedded in one of the scientific Units. In this case you would be able to run an independent research group, developing and applying cutting-edge genetic and genomics approaches in bacteria and/or microbial communities. A short 2-page research proposal would be needed as part of the application in this case. 

You have

• You have PhD in Microbiology with broad expertise in different microbes, and specialization in genetics and large-scale approaches
• Ideally several years of experience in an interdisciplinary research environment
• Broad knowledge of several areas of microbial physiology
• Broad experience in automated and large-scale experimental pipelines, including chemical and genetic screens in microbes
• Experience in line management of highly qualified personnel
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent organizational skills
• Ability to work in a team 

You might also have

• Experience of working in a service research environment
• Experience in working with non-model microbes
• Experience in working with anaerobes, or in general with controlled environments
• Experience in analysis of large-scale data
• Experience in managing budgets 

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches.

EMBL offers attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family-friendly working environment. Competitive salary and social security benefits, financial support for relocation, a relaxed culture, professional development, an on-site nursery, canteen and other staff facilities make EMBL a great place to work.

Enjoy lots of benefits

• Financial incentives: Income tax expemtion, monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, a pension scheme, life insurance, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements
• Certified training and continued development of your professional and personal skills
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year
• Generous relocation package including installation grant (if applicable)
• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave and monthly family and child allowances
• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance 

What else you need to know

We are Europe’s research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1900 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

**Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.

EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here.

To apply, please fill in the online form and upload a motivation letter, your CV and a short (max. 3 pages) of description how you plan to develop the microbial automation facility. At least two reference letters will be requested after the deadline. 

Interviews are tentatively being planned for 8-9th Feb 2024.

If you have any questions about the role, feel free to contact Nassos Typas typas@embl.de or Rainer Pepperkok rainer.pepperkok@embl.org.