What are the responsibilities and job description for the Plant Care Associate - Contract position at Terrana Biosciences?
Company Summary:
Terrana Biosciences is one of the latest companies founded through Flagship Pioneering’s venture creation engine, where companies such as Moderna Therapeutics and Evelo Therapeutics were conceived and created. Since Flagship’s founding in 2000, the firm has originated and fostered the development of nearly 100 scientific ventures resulting in $19 billion in aggregate value, 500 issued patents, and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents. Terrana Biosciences is integrating the latest developments in molecular biology and plant biology to create a new platform technology that enables adaptive, targeted and sustainable solutions in agriculture.
Position Summary:
We are seeking a highly motivated, proactive, and detail-oriented Controlled Environment Agriculture Plant Care Associate to join our rapidly growing team. This role will support our CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) team with plant cultivation and maintenance of our plant growth facilities. The successful candidate is highly organized, comfortable working in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment, and an integral part of a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary team. Excellent communication, record-keeping, and teamwork will be critical.
Key Responsibilities:
- Support the CEA team by cleaning and maintaining plant production space and equipment
- Grow and maintain healthy plants through watering, fertilizing, pest control, and monitoring of growth conditions
- Process plant production requests and track plant inventory using an automated system
- Collect experimental plant samples in collaboration with scientists
- Follow and contribute to the IPM program by scouting for pests and disease, capture data and generate reports
- Ensure a clean and safe plant production workspace
Required Skills:
- Excellent communication skills and ability to work with a diverse interdisciplinary team
- Basic horticultural skills and experience working with plants in a controlled environment
- Strong organizational and record keeping skills
- Strong understanding of safe laboratory practices
- Experience with Microsoft Office
- Experience with automated growth control systems a plus
- Experience with plant assays or cell culture a plus
- Strong willingness to learn
- Innovative with an ability to problem-solve
Minimum Qualifications:
- 2 years working in a CEA or greenhouse setting
- A high level of initiative and good judgment, adaptive and quick learner, efficient in multi-tasking and troubleshooting
- Great attention to detail, including a proven ability to manage multiple, competing priorities and execute methodically
- A strong self-starter with enthusiasm for science and willingness to adapt to the changing needs of a fast-paced research and development effort
Location: Cambridge, MA
More About Flagship Pioneering
Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $50B in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.2B in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $18B of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises transformative companies, including Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Indigo Ag, Invaio Sciences, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Generate Biomedicines, Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Senda Biosciences and Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX).
Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.