Scientist - Mass Spectrometry (Lexington, MA)

DSM – Bright Science. Brighter Living.™

Royal DSM is a global, purpose-led, science-based company active in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living. DSM’s purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM addresses with its products and solutions some of the world’s biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. DSM delivers innovative solutions for human nutrition, animal nutrition, personal care and aroma, medical devices, green products and applications, and new mobility and connectivity. DSM and its associated companies deliver annual net sales of about €10 billion with approximately 23,000 employees. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. 

More information can be found at www.dsm.com.

Our Lexington Biotech and Analysis team is looking for a Scientist with expertise in the area of mass spectrometry to support the development of innovative nutritional products within an exciting and collaborative research and development environment.

The successful candidate will be an expert in mass spectrometry and analytical chemistry with the implememtation of these tools towards quantiative analytics and metabolomics studies.  The position holder will shape the continuous improvement of analytical workflows and analytical methods for the analysis of small molecules in complex matrices,  metabolomics for animal microbiome studies, and implementing high-throughput and automated solutions for the analysis of key intermediates.  The position holder will collaborate closely with colleagues in our microbial biotechnology and microbiome teams utilizing mass spectrometry and other analytical techniques to investigate biosynthetic and biological pathways, identify key biomarkers, and deliver deeper insights to projects.

He/She will act as a technical leader and strategic liaison between various departments (analytical chemistry, molecular biotechnology, process development, microbiome) acting as a critical translator from science into reliable and healthy nutritional solutions for consumers. His/her role is key to create value to DSM business through food ingredients with scientifically proven benefits.

The Position

• Develop, improve and implement advanced analytical methods for determining the composition of complex microbial biomass matrices as well as biospecimens such as blood, serum and fecaes.
• Drive discovery in analytics for new approaches and instrumentation, advancing analytical competencies and accelerating innovation projects.
• Develop procedures for extracting and analyzing intra- and extra-cellular metabolites from microbial and biospecimen samples using targeted and untargeted LC and mass spectrometry.
• Investigate metabolites based on biological pathways for additional insights and biomarker  identification.
• Bring analytical insights into cross-functional and global project teams for the development of new microbial biotechnology processes.
• Analyze, interpret, and present study results and conclusions in cross-functional and project meetings.
• Coordinate and facilitate analysis from external laboratories or universities and support data interpretation to relevant project teams.
• Provide scientific mentorship for junior colleagues in regard to sample preparation, LC, and LC-MS analysis techniques to achieve shared research goals.
• Independently generate technical hypothesis to conceive of, perform and guide analytical support for a variety of research projects/activities.  Develop rigorous experiments to complete complex projects from inception to commercial success.
• Uphold DSM’s highest standards in safety, health, and environment (SHE).

The Ideal:

• Masters >5 years industry experience or or Ph.D. > 2years industrial experience in Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related field.
• Experience in translating scientific data into insights and acting as an analytical scientific expert in discussions on science/project progression.
• Strong background and practical/hands on experience in analytical chemistry with a focus on liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry; including sample preparation, molecular structure identification and workflow automation.   
• Additional microbiome workflows is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with technical leadership on mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (preferably with Thermo Q-Exactive) including both hardware skills (maintenance, method development and instrumentation) and software skills (data processing, database searching and statistical analysis).
• Additional metabolomics/lipidomics experience is preferred.

DSM NA is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. DSM is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.