Research Assistant - Nairobi County

Job summary

Essential is a new bioscience organisation creating breakthrough solutions to tackle malnutrition and transform food systems. We are leveraging advances in fermentation to convert agricultural byproducts into affordable, accessible, and climate-resilient proteins that can be integrated into products to prevent and treat malnutrition. Our goal is to catalyse a new model of climate-resilient protein production in Sub-Saharan Africa and build a bioscience R&D engine in East Africa.

Responsibilities

• Support lab-scale and pilot-scale fermentation experiments, including setup, monitoring, and sampling.
• Maintain microbial cultures (stock cultures, inocula, and working strains) in compliance with biosafety and quality standards.
• Prepare culture media, feedstocks, and reagents according to established protocols and SOPs.
• Perform analytical assays (e.g., biomass, protein, sugars, pH, metabolites) to evaluate fermentation performance.
• Operate and maintain fermentation equipment, including bioreactors, shakers, and analytical instruments.
• Collect, organize, and record experimental data in laboratory notebooks and digital databases.
• Assist in troubleshooting fermentation runs and contribute to continuous improvement of R&D processes.
• Follow strict laboratory safety, hygiene, and quality-control protocols.
• Collaborate with scientists, engineers, and cross-functional teams to support research milestones.

Job description