Scientist I

About us:

Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from real animal cells. These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. In doing so, the company aims to address some of the most pressing environmental, animal welfare, and public health challenges, while still giving people the meat they love.

Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck) and to sell a cultivated meat product in the United States. The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood.

UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech and World Changing Ideas Awards, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others.

About this job:

We are seeking a highly motivated and innovative Scientist I to join our Cell Line Development team. This role is critical to building and advancing UPSIDE’s proprietary cell line assets for commercial-scale cultivated meat production. The successful candidate will bring scientific rigor, curiosity, and strong collaboration skills to design, execute, and deliver breakthrough cellular systems that enhance manufacturability, scalability, and product quality.

Responsibilities include:

• Clonal Cell Line Development: Design, generate, characterize, and document new clonal cell lines with improved scalability, stability, productivity, and product attributes to support commercial launches. Support upstream process development to prove out capabilities of cell lines at larger scales.

• Deliver Enhanced Cell Line Attributes: Discover & develop novel assays for biomarkers linked to enhanced cell attributes and incorporate for high-throughput cell selection.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with functional teams across R&D, Manufacturing, and Product Development to ensure cell line assets meet business and scientific needs.

• Scientific Leadership: Provide technical mentorship and feedback to colleagues, fostering a culture of curiosity, teamwork, and problem-solving. Drive cell line selection decisions with respect to business needs and present recommendations and trade-offs to stakeholders.

• Technology Integration: Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, tools, and methods to accelerate cell line development and maintain competitive differentiation.

About you:

• Ph.D. in biology, bioengineering, or related field or B.S. with 5+ years relevant industry experience.

• Strong background in mammalian cell culture, cell biology, cell-based molecular assay development (e.g. RT-PCR, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, protein analysis etc), and data analysis.

• Familiar or willing to work with liquid handling robots and controlled bioreactors.

• Proficiency in programming (e.g. Python, R, SQL) is a plus.

• Strong written and oral communication skills, able to synthesize and present complex concepts to technical experts and non-experts.

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and collaborative environment.

Who you’ll work with:

• This role is embedded within a functional team responsible for all aspects of cell line and early process development, comprising cell line generation, cellular adaptation, cloning, automation, and characterization.

• Will also work cross-functionally with process development, data, product development, and cell culture media teams.

Key Contributions in First Year:

• Mastery of cell line generation process for meeting requirements of cultivated meat.

• Delivery of best-in-class cell line with the highest product quality and manufacturing characteristics.

• Documentation and traceable characterization data for clonal cell lines, integrated into enterprise data management system where appropriate

• Identify novel biomarkers and process parameters associated with improved product quality. Design small-scale testing and screening strategies that can be implemented in clone selection and characterization.

Compensation Range: $105,000 - $120,000*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.

UPSIDE Benefits!

• Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!

• 83-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)

• Pet insurance for your furry family members!

• Unlimited PTO

• Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.