Sustainably Crafted Meats: Our Portfolio Company Vow is Hiring
On a mission to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions, our portfolio company Vow is crafting meat from exotic animal cells. Purposefully circumventing the replication of low-cost, commodity meats such as chicken, beef, pork, and lamb, the company is focused on creating cultivated proteins that fall outside of the 0.02% of animal species that are typically found on our menus. By doing so, Vow is able to create products more efficiently, and eventually at higher volumes, than traditional industrial animal agriculture — thus advancing faster towards premium retail and food service markets.
Founded in 2019 and based in Sydney, Australia, Vow is co-founded by George Peppou (CEO) and Tim Noakesmith (chief product officer). The company recently raised $49.2 million in Series A funding and unveiled the details on its first product, Morsel, which will go into Singapore restaurants by the end of 2022. The team is growing quickly and hiring for multiple roles. Check out the Toyota Ventures jobs board to learn more and read about two key roles below: Food Technologist and Engineering Manager — Mechatronics/Hardware.
Food Technologist (Sydney, Australia)
Vow is looking for a food technologist to develop a pipeline of delicious food products that will eventually be released to customers in Singapore, Australia, and the US across a number of different customer-facing brands. This is a role that will require comfort with leaning into ambiguity, a desire to learn extremely fast, and a passion for food and technology. Key candidates in this role will use insights to develop real food prototypes in a fast-paced environment alongside scientists, engineers, and chefs. This includes leading texture and/or flavor development projects that result in the creation of cultivated food products that meet the target sensory and/or flavor profiles set by the project team; performing physical and chemical testing on our cultivated meat products as a benchmark against alternative meat products and assisting with new ingredient sourcing. You will conduct research to understand changes in flavor, texture and aroma over time, as well as analyze data, evaluate results, form conclusions and implement document process improvements to deliver reports to teammates and the senior leadership team.
Applicants should have a bachelor's of science, master's or Ph.D. in food processing, food science, material science, nutrition or applicable industry experience in related areas. Also needed is five or more years of experience in the development of novel food or meat products, analysis and manipulation of nutritional value, texture or sensory experience, color, water content, overall appeal and shelf life. Extensive knowledge of materials science, especially food-safe ingredients and edible biopolymers is a must, as well as an understanding of protein, carbohydrate, fat chemistry, and component functionality and interactions. Bonus knowledge includes ingredient regulatory framework, food storage and packaging, and shelf life optimization.
Engineering Manager — Mechatronics/Hardware (Sydney, Australia)
Vow is seeking an experienced engineering manager with a focus on mechatronics/hardware to lead multidisciplinary projects by leveraging technical experience, the ability to align or motivate team members, and the ability to work with stakeholders across the organization. Candidates in this role will be responsible for hiring, retaining, growing, and leading world-class engineers across Vow’s team. This engineering manager will lead engineers building automation and cell culture systems to dramatically accelerate the pace of cultured meat R&D through working in a modern technology stack, built on technologies like Linux, OpenTrons, Zaber, React, Postgres, TypeScript, Docker, and AWS. You will be responsible for creating and running the hiring processes to build up the company’s engineering team and lead technical teams in day-to-day execution.
Additionally, candidates in this role will be charged with reviewing the work of fellow engineers to improve the quality of technical work and grow their skills, as well as develop and communicate technical strategy for complex, multidisciplinary technical challenges. This will include developing laboratory automation, modeling biological systems, or using machine learning approaches to rapidly screen cells and ideal growth conditions.
You should have over four years of relevant professional experience designing, building, shipping, and maintaining advanced electro-mechanical-software systems in mission-critical or user-facing systems. You should also have a degree in mechatronics engineering or related disciplines such as computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or industrial automation. The ideal candidate will have experience in hiring world-class technical talent; supporting engineers in their growth and work satisfaction; and delivering clear outcomes to Vow’s mission as quickly as possible by leading technical teams in day-to-day execution. Finally, successful candidates will possess a desire to remain deeply technical by continuing to upskill in relevant technical areas and spending some of the time (~10–20%) shipping technology, to maintain an up-to-date and keen understanding of real-world technical challenges of your team.
Learn more about a career at Vow and explore other job opportunities on the Toyota Ventures jobs board. A number of our portfolio companies are also recruiting right now, so be sure to sign up for the Toyota Ventures Talent Network.
