Engineering Manager

About Us

Vow is a food company - a very different one. We’re creating real meat products from animal cells instead of the animal itself.

We’re bringing together cutting edge innovations in science, engineering, culinary and design to make sustainable food that’s both irresistible and available to billions of people worldwide.

The role

We’re looking for an Engineering Manager with a focus on Hardware Systems Engineering in Manufacturing to join our rapidly growing food company.

You’ll guide multidisciplinary projects by leveraging your technical experience, ability to align & motivate team members, and ability to work with stakeholders across the organisation. You'll be responsible for hiring, retaining and growing world-class engineers across our team. You will create and execute the technical strategy for making delicious and scalable cultured meat products.This includes working on the necessary automation, data management, and biological systems in manufacturing and R&D.

You will get to work in a modern technology stack built on technologies like Linux, OpenTrons, Zaber, React, Postgres, TypeScript, Docker, and AWS, and get to work rapidly without a bunch of legacy systems overhead to contend with.

Making sustainable, abundant and irresistible food requires the brain power of a diverse group of people. In this role you will have the opportunity to work alongside incredible scientists, engineers, operators, and designers who are relentlessly passionate about food and creating a better future for our planet.

The experience/skills you will bring:

• Experience in designing, deploying, and maintaining advanced electro-mechanical/ electro-pneumatic software systems in critical environments.
• Proven experience in rapidly scaling production systems.
• Leadership experience in managing small to medium-sized technical teams, with a focus on talent acquisition and development.
• Strong experience developing and implementing complex technical solutions software projects (Python) from initial concept to completion.
• Mechanical experience including machine design, motion systems, CAD, and product lifecycle management.
• Electrical expertise, including designing electrical circuits, troubleshooting, and compliance with safety standards.
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting industrial electrical systems using tools like multimeters, oscilloscopes, EMI probes
• Practical approach to process engineering, with a knack for optimising and integrating systems in dynamic environments to deliver efficient, cost-effective solutions rapidly.

Bonus if you have:

• Software proficiency in PLC programming, HMI/SCADA development, and familiarity with various fieldbus networking protocols.
• Multidisciplinary technical expertise across hardware, software, and various technology stacks. Ideal for generalists skilled in both hands-on engineering and coding.
• Experience in manufacturing processes and design for manufacture.
• Exposure to a variety of production machinery and industrial sensors.
• A connection to the culinary world, cell biology, biotechnology, or natural sciences, either personally or professionally.

You will:

• Guide engineers across multiple teams towards quickly building and integrating large-scale reliable and safe automated manufacturing systems to dramatically accelerate the velocity of our factories and reduce manual involvement.
• Influence the company strategy with foresight by proposing targeted solutions on how, where and when to leverage automation and technology across R&D and high-volume production.
• Guide, support and hire engineers in key growth areas (1:1 and team-wide) to sustain accountability, high-performance, happiness and satisfaction at work.
• Develop and communicate technical strategy to complex, multidisciplinary technical challenges, whether it be developing factory automation, modelling biological systems, or using machine learning approaches to
• Have significant freedom to identify and work on the most valuable problems you see.
• Learn about biology, hardware and culinary from our multidisciplinary team and leverage these balanced perspectives in your work.

What success looks like

• First Month: Dive into hands-on technical challenges, like enhancing our manufacturing process or developing bioreactor capabilities. Connect with our engineering team and cross-functional members to understand and address Vow's technical and product challenges.
• First Three Months: Establish strong relationships with our engineering team, aiding their growth and success. Own a critical technical area, such as automating STR bioreactors or developing protocols for R&D cell culture maintenance.
• First Year: Play a pivotal role in expanding our team with top-tier engineers. Guide and inspire your team, contributing to their professional growth. Manage and successfully deliver multiple technical projects in biology, software, and hardware, driving forward the creation of sustainable, innovative cultured meat products.

VOW, MORE THAN JUST A JOB.

Who we are and why join:

• We are building a diverse, mission-led dream team of “Vowzers.” Our mission is to make food products for everyone. To do that well we need a workforce that’s representative of the people we serve. We celebrate multiple approaches and points of view - so we’re building a culture to match. Be yourself and come as you are.
• Work on cutting-edge technology. We’re bringing together cutting-edge innovations in science, engineering, and food, to recreate the world’s most tantalising and unique culinary experiences. All without compromising on ethics or our planet along the way. Since our inception in 2019, we have held the title of being the first startup to cultivate meat from the cells of an undomesticated animal, and have served up our exotic meats ranging from kangaroo dumplings to alpaca sliders in tastings with world-renowned chefs.
• Work with and learn from the best. Our team includes some of the world’s top scientists, innovators, operators, and creatives with decades of industry experience. Despite our experiences though, we all strive to build, break, learn, and repeat. We see the impossible as temporary and strive to learn and support our company and fellow Vowzers' growth as much as possible.
• We’re fully funded and ready to go. We are a growing Aussie biotech start-up backed by Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Tenacious Ventures, P7 Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and PeakBridge VC.

Vow perks and benefits:

• Everyone is an owner. In addition to competitive base salaries, each and every ‘Vowzer’ owns equity in the company so we can all benefit from our hard work and future success.
• Generous paid parental leave. We offer 8 weeks of paid caregiver leave and an additional 8 weeks paid leave for the birth giver.
• Generous relocation budget & support. Support for interstate or overseas team members and their families (including pets!)
• Flexible working hours and location. We value work-life balance. While we’re mostly back in the office, you’re free to choose the best way for you to work.
• Unlimited personal leave. At Vow we recognise that sometimes you need time off to recuperate, look after your mental health, or simply deal with an emergency. We put unlimited personal leave in place to empower you to truly bring your best self to work every single day and you are always paid for days taken off as personal leave.
• Heaps of tasty samples from our culinary centre. Our fantastic "food inventors" on the Vow team are always cooking up new product prototypes, and all Vowzers are given the opportunity to taste, give feedback, and learn from their culinary prowess.
• An awesome converted warehouse “campus” in Alexandria. Complete with a glass-walled lab, manufacturing line, free snacks, a culinary centre, and professional-grade coffee machine in our cafe, as well as a DIY workshop for all hands-on projects.
• Human and dog friendly office! An inclusive community and culture, in a welcoming office, complete with friendly “Vowzer” dogs!
• A variety of social clubs. We encourage all our Vowzers to build the culture with us and share what you love by creating social clubs across the business. From book clubs to hiking groups, we’re always looking for ways to learn and engage with our team.

You don’t have to have every listed requirement and skill to be a great fit - you may even teach us something about what we should be looking for! If you are passionate about this opportunity and think you have the skills to succeed, please apply! If not, but you know someone who might be interested, please share this post.