About The Company KE Select has exclusively partnered with Specialty Probiotics Australia to support the scale up of their team. They are a newly formed company with the benefit of acquiring the assets of a previous probiotics manufacturing facility and new majority ownership from a highly successful leader in this niche area.
Based in Ormeau, the Queensland facility will be sourcing new and innovative strains of microbiomes to produce world-class probiotic ingredients and products. In addition to probiotics, there are plans to produce postbiotics ingredients for both human and animal nutrition products. Investment plans are in place to upgrade production capability over the next few years, allowing new packaging formats, dosage, and higher concentrations. Specialty Probiotics Australia aims to turn probiotic ideas into reality for their customers, providing solutions from formulation through to manufacturing.
With an exciting growth trajectory expected, and a core team of highly experienced leaders in the probiotic field, now is the time to join and contribute to the early-stage development of this company. We are looking for individuals with experience from a GMP and TGA-certified environment with a passion for supporting health and wellness needs.
About the Role We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Seed Microbiologist to join our team, with a focus on probiotic fermentation and the creation and maintenance of a Master Cell Bank (MCB). In this role, you will be responsible for preparing and managing seed cultures of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics, supporting pilot-scale and large-scale fermentation processes, as well as establishing and maintaining a high-quality MCB for consistent microbial production.
Some of the responsibilities will be as follows:
- Prepare and maintain seed cultures for pilot and large-scale fermentation in a timely manner
- Perform microbial plating, enumeration, staining, and microscopy to ensure quality and viability
- Prepare, cryopreserve, and document MCB vials according to SOP and regulatory guidelines
- Troubleshoot fermentation-related issues and support continuous improvements to yield
- Evaluate new microbial strains, media formulations and parameters to optimise product formulation
- Perform maintenance on laboratory instruments and liaise with technical support providers
- Draft, review and update SOPs related to MCB creation, fermentation processes and new product development
- Ensure strict adherence to regulatory standards and best practices for microbial culture and fermentation activities
- Collaborate with R&D, engineering and production teams to ensure successful tech transfer and production scale-up
About You To be successful in this role you will have the following:
- Tertiary degree or higher in microbiology, biotechnology or a related scientific field
- Experience in microbial culture management, fermentation, and seed bank maintenance
- Hands-on experience with bacterial and yeast culture, microbial plating, enumeration methods, microscopy and strain maintenance
- Strong understanding of fermentation principles, scale-up processes, and bioprocess development
- Prior experience in the probiotic or API manufacturing industry would be highly regarded
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Flexibility to work shifts based on fermentation inoculation schedules
To Apply If you meet the above criteria and are interested in this opportunity, please apply online in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact Keelie Munroe on keelie@keselect.com or ring 0466 485 542 for a confidential discussion.
KE Select is one of Australia's leading Life Science & Medical Technology recruitment firms. KE Select have established reach throughout ANZ, Asia and the UK and a market presence exceeding ten years. KE Select is quickly becoming the recruiter of choice for many organisations within the Pathology, Life Science, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Clinical space.
