Plant Pathologist, R&D - InnerPlant

About Us

At InnerPlant (www.innerplant.com) we are reimagining the role of crops in our farming system, developing crops that can tell us what they need by turning plants into Living Sensors. Our Smart Seeds signal early and specific stressors in a scalable and affordable way to reduce chemical and fertilizer use while increasing yields, delivering more with less.

We’re backed by industry giant John Deere and other veteran venture capitalists and are poised for massive growth to realize a more productive and sustainable farming system. InnerPlant is a place for dreamers and optimists, people that believe they can change the world and that want to take action to leave a positive lasting impact. If you share these traits and want to apply yourself to make a real difference - this is the opportunity for you.

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Plant Pathologist to join our team. The successful candidate will be responsible for expanding our pathogen library, developing a pathogen testing laboratory, creating fungal inoculum, and guiding our research and development (R&D) assays. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to our groundbreaking work in plant pathology and make a significant impact on the future of agriculture.

Key Responsibilities:

• Pathogen Isolation and Maintenance:
• Culturing fungi from a variety of sources especially plant tissue, obtaining pure cultures of isolates.
• Identification of fungal isolates based on morphological characteristics.
• Collaborate with external partners and research institutions to acquire new pathogen samples.
• Maintain fungal cultures for long term storage and update the pathogen database to ensure comprehensive and accurate records.
• Create, catalog, and disseminate fungal inoculum to be used across R&D functional groups.
• Pathogen Testing Laboratory Development:
• Design and establish efficient diagnostic protocols for pathogen identification.
• Develop and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for laboratory operations.
• Ensure compliance with safety and regulatory standards in all laboratory activities.
• R&D Plant Assays:
• Design and implement phenotyping protocols to assess plant traits and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.
• Utilize InnerPlant's proprietary biomarker technologies to collect and interpret phenotypic data.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including molecular biologists, transformation, plant growth, and data scientists.
• Maintain phenotyping databases and ensure data quality and integrity.

Requirements

• Bachelor or Master’s degree in Plant Pathology or a related field.
• 2 years of laboratory research experience, ideally in a plant pathology lab.
• Extensive experience working with fungi including isolation from complex biological matrices.
• Experience in fungal identification using culture morphology and microscopy.
• Strong knowledge of plant foliar, stem, and root diseases.
• Experience with soybean and corn preferred but not required.
• Strong organizational skills - need to be able to set up and complete own experiments, while working as part of a cross-functional team.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with statistical techniques and software.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, innovative environment.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Familiarity with molecular techniques to identify microorganisms

Benefits

Benefits

The US base salary range for this position is $80,000 - $100,000 + benefits. Within the range, individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

InnerPlant provides an amazing opportunity to work on some of the hardest problems facing humanity and help design the agricultural systems of the future. In addition to working with a fun team, we offer competitive compensation, insurance benefits, and flexible time-off.

InnerPlant provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.