Senior Lead Scientist

Job Summary

IFF is a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients and health & biosciences. We deliver sustainable innovations that elevate everyday products.

Health & Biosciences channels our passion for nature and bioscience into sustainable, life-enhancing technologies that power innovative solutions across healthcare, food, consumer and industrial markets.

The role is based on-site in Palo Alto, California. Be part of a motivated, passionate and open-minded team where together we can achieve greatness and make a real impact. Your potential is our inspiration.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Lead Scientist in Biochemistry and Analytical Chemistry to provide scientific leadership in the discovery, characterization and development of enzymes for our Grain business. You will combine deep expertise in biochemistry, enzymology, analytical chemistry and mechanistic assay development to guide multidisciplinary programs from concept through technology development. As a recognized technical expert, you will help shape scientific strategy, solve complex challenges involving industrially relevant substrates and mentor scientists across the organization.

Where You’ll Make a Difference

• Lead innovative research programs in enzyme engineering, catalysis, protein chemistry and biochemical mechanisms, translating scientific questions into clear experimental strategies.
• Develop kinetic and thermodynamic models that explain enzyme performance and guide protein engineering priorities and decision-making.
• Investigate enzyme interactions with complex matrices, including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, plant-derived materials, fermentation broths and other industrial substrates.
• Develop, validate and deploy robust biochemical, enzymatic and analytical assays for screening, mechanistic characterization and process development, including high-throughput and medium-throughput workflows where appropriate.
• Lead the implementation and interpretation of advanced analytical methods, including liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), high-performance and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC/UPLC), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), ultraviolet-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy, chromatographic separations and biophysical characterization methods.
• Integrate analytical, biochemical and process datasets to identify performance bottlenecks, generate actionable insights and support rigorous technical decisions.
• Partner across protein engineering, microbial engineering, fermentation, applications, bioinformatics and computational teams, while supporting technology transfer and scale-up activities as needed.
• Mentor scientists and research associates, strengthen best practices in experimental design and data quality, and contribute to intellectual property through invention disclosures, patents, publications and scientific presentations.

What Makes You the Right Fit

• Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Enzymology, Analytical Chemistry or a related scientific discipline.
• Typically 10 or more years of relevant industrial and/or postdoctoral experience in biochemistry, enzymology, analytical chemistry, industrial biotechnology or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in enzyme characterization, protein chemistry and/or mechanistic biochemistry.
• Deep understanding of enzyme kinetics, reaction mechanisms, binding interactions, thermodynamics and quantitative data analysis.
• Proven experience developing, validating and implementing biochemical, enzymatic and analytical assays.
• Hands-on experience interpreting data from advanced analytical techniques used to characterize proteins, metabolites, reaction products and complex mixtures.
• A strong record of solving complex scientific problems involving biological systems, heterogeneous materials or challenging industrial substrates.
• Demonstrated scientific leadership in multidisciplinary research environments, supported by a record of publications, patents and/or technical innovation.

How Would You Stand Out?

• Expertise with carbohydrate-active enzymes, protein engineering programs, industrial biotechnology and/or biocatalysis.
• Experience with mass spectrometry-based methods, structural biology, computational modeling and/or biophysical characterization techniques.
• Experience leading research programs through technology development, commercialization or product launch.

Why Choose Us?

• Shape the scientific direction of enzyme discovery and development for IFF’s Grain business.
• Tackle complex, real-world scientific challenges involving industrial processes and challenging substrates.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary experts across protein engineering, fermentation, applications, bioinformatics and computational science.
• Influence technology development from early scientific concept through scale-up and potential commercialization.
• Mentor scientists while strengthening scientific rigor, analytical capabilities and best practices across the organization.
• Contribute to meaningful innovation through patents, publications, external collaborations and scientific conferences.

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

VisitIFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more

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