Senior Vice President of Research
Loam Bio, Australia
Job Description
Senior Vice President of Research
About Loam
At Loam, we have the earth in our hands. As a team of scientists, farmers, and entrepreneurs, we are on a mission to improve the world's farmland and address climate change. By developing microbial technology, we aim to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and build carbon in agricultural soils. Our goal is to help farming businesses prosper by boosting yield, enhancing soil health, and enabling access to carbon markets.
As a fast-paced and multidimensional startup, Loam offers a supportive and diverse workplace where every team member is encouraged to learn and grow beyond their area of expertise. Regardless of the role, everyone at Loam shares one job: to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it stably in farmer's soils.
This is more than just a job this is our life’s work.
About the Role
We are seeking a highly qualified Senior Vice President of Research to lead our scientific endeavours and help us drive the company's growth in the agricultural biologicals sector. The Senior Vice President of Research will take responsibility for identifying opportunities to develop new products and improve existing product lines, while also continually improving Ramp;D functional capabilities. They will be a key member of Loam’s global leadership team where they will shape the company's scientific vision and strategy. This position requires a leader who possesses broad scientific expertise, has an established track record of project management, and can effectively grow, develop and manage cross-functional teams.
Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership: Develop and implement a comprehensive Ramp;D strategy aligned with current and future Ramp;D deliverables, the company's long-term objectives, market trends, and customer needs. Drive innovation, high quality execution, and scientific excellence across all stages of research and development.
- Team Management: Lead, develop and inspire a multidisciplinary team of scientists, researchers, and technical professionals. Foster a collaborative and high-performance culture that encourages teamwork, curiosity, creativity, continuous learning and delivery of quality research.
- Portfolio Management: Build and maintain a portfolio of research projects and related functional capabilities that reliably deliver insights and innovations for Loam and its key stakeholders. Manage the research portfolio, including prioritisation, evaluation and resource allocation. Oversee the planning (functional resources and milestone deliveries) and high quality execution of Ramp;D contributions to cross functional projects.
- Delivering Research:Provide and/or enable technical guidance and expertise in the design and execution of experiments, field trials, and data analysis. Ensure all research activities, outcomes and metadata are properly documented and recorded in databases and appropriate repositories. Coordinate preparation of technical dossiers and reports at a standard commensurate with peer reviewed journal publication to communicate research outcomes.
- Collaboration and Partnerships: Stay abreast of industry advancements, emerging technologies, and market trends to identify potential collaborations and investment opportunities. Cultivate and manage strategic partnerships and collaborations with leading academic institutions, research organisations, collaborating partners and industry stakeholders.
- Budget and Resource Management: Develop and manage the research budget aligned with delivery of our short-term and long-term goals, ensuring efficient allocation of resources and optimal utilisation of funds. Monitor and report on key performance indicators and metrics to measure the effectiveness and progress of research activities.
- Intellectual Property: Collaborate with legal and intellectual property teams to foster robust efforts to capture IP opportunities that protect the company's innovative technologies and ensure compliance with applicable patents, trademarks, and regulatory requirements while optimising IP value at Loam. Provide leadership in development and fostering of proactive IP strategies.
- Thought Leadership: Represent the company in scientific conferences, industry forums, and stakeholder engagements. Act as a thought leader and spokesperson, promoting the company's scientific achievements, technological advancements, and commitment to sustainability. Draw on inputs from scientific, industry and public interactions to drive innovation and insights across Loam.
Requirements
About You
- Ph.D. in a related scientific discipline (e.g., Agriculture, Plant Science, Microb