Director of Strain Development

We seek a motivated leader, with expertise in strain development and a passion for developing teams, who thrives in driving innovation and delivering impactful results through strategic collaboration and visionary leadership.

About us
At the Bioeconomy division we work with biorefinery value chains as well as products and processes for agriculture, food, packaging, battery development, and the design of materials and surfaces. RISE Processum AB is a subsidiary of RISE and are experts in biobased process development. In a unique research environment, we can test new ideas and products from laboratory to demo scale and in this way, we are a link between research and commercialization. We are a leading partner within biobased process development and in collaboration with our partners, we develop new fossil free processes and products such as feed, food, fuels, chemicals and materials.

RISE Processum has just over 40 employees and the organisation includes research areas, Chemistry, Biotechnology and Innovation system and is situated in the High Coast Innovation Park in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. In Örnsköldsvik we offer an innovative research environment with lab and technology infrastructure that is strongly connected to existing industrial processes and the transition to biobased products.

More information at www.ri.se and www.processum.se

About the role
As Director of Strain Development, you will lead the area for strain development and build a strong research and innovation project portfolio within industrial biotechnology. The role as group manager includes both strategic and operational responsibilities.

Strategic development of the area:

• Build and develop the strain development research area in line with the organisation’s strategic goals within industrial biotechnology.

• Secure that the research area develops according to the Design–Build–Test–Learn (DBTL)-methodology and adds to strengthen the organisation’s capacity especially within data driven design and data analysis and learning from experiments.

• Identify and develop new research and innovation possibilities using biotechnology processes for production of materials, food ingredients and other biobased products.

Establishing competence and building a collaborative team:

• Recruit, develop and lead a research team within microbial strain development.

• Strengthen competence within data driven biotechnology, AI and analysis according to the DBTL-process.

• Create an environment that supports cross-functional collaborations between biotechnology, chemistry, digitalisation and process technology.

• Actively connect with internal competencies such as chemistry, digitalisation, material and production, and life science, to develop the biotechnology area. Integrate digital tools, automation and AI in the strain development process.

• Actively connect to relevant industrial partners to build strong collaborations

Development of research and project portfolio:

• Initiate and lead research and innovation projects within strain development and industrial biotechnology.

• Secure that the project portfolio strengthens the entire DBTL-chain, especially the connection between strain development and fermentation processes.

• Increase the degree of automation and data driven development in the project portfolio.

Leadership:

• Lead and develop the organisation to grow

• Create structure, prioritisations and strategic goals for the group

• Position the organisation as a strong actor within industrial biotechnology and especially strain development globally.

As Director of Strain Development you report to the CEO of RISE Processum AB. The location for this role is in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, where we have all technical infrastructure and laboratory facilities. Travel will occur.

Who are you?
To succeed in this role, you are a natural leader who motivates your team through inspiring, courageous, and inclusive leadership. You are driven to deliver clear results and take pride in building trust with customers, partners, colleagues, and employees. With a confident yet humble approach, you lead by example and create an environment where people feel engaged and empowered. You thrive in both strategic and operational contexts, and your strong communication skills—both in Swedish and English—enable you to build effective collaborations across disciplines and sectors.

Requirements:

• University degree in relevant field

• Documented experience from the private sector and/or academia

• Solid understanding of strain development

• Solid understanding of both the research process and project management

• You have experience that has given you a deep understanding of the importance of risk assessments and a solid ability to contribute to a good work environment in applied research, laboratory work, and scale-up

• Experience in team-building and strategic development

• Business-oriented mindset and ability to build long-term relationships with stakeholders

• You have leadership experience and are a confident leader with a proven ability to motivate, engage and guide teams toward high performance and development

• Fluent in both spoken and written Swedish and English

Meritorious qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in a relevant field

• Experience from research and development in the core areas of the bioeconomy

• Good understanding of Sweden’s and the EU’s research and innovation landscape

• An existing industrial and academic network

Are we a good match?
As Director of Strain Development at Processum, you will be key to create opportunities for a team of engaged scientists and engineers. With us, there is the opportunity to influence and contribute to sustainable materials, chemicals and processes. At RISE, you will work alongside some of the country’s brightest minds – colleagues with deep expertise, broad perspectives, and a shared commitment to solving societal challenges. Together, we create technology that is not only advanced but also applicable, sustainable, and ready to be scaled in society.

This is the place for you who is passionate about innovation and leadership and strongly believe in collaboration.

Welcome with your application!
If this sounds interesting and you want to know more, feel free to contact the recruiting manager Karin Johnson, CEO at RISE Processum, +46732557551. The last application date is May 3, whilst selection and interviews will take place continuously during and after the application period.

Our union representatives are Johanna Källman, SACO, +46 10 516 60 10 and Frida Sandberg, +46 10 516 67 79 and Verónica Benavente +46 10 516 67 51, for Unionen.