Head of Process Development

Nūmi is a bioproduction platform harnessing human mammary cells to produce key ingredients with proven health benefits across all stages of life. More specifically, it is the first European cultivated breast milk company aiming to produce human milk constituents to better match the ideal nutrition for babies. We are an early-stage, VC-backed biotech based in the heart of Paris (Hôpital Cochin, Paris 14th) and supported by world-class investors and scientific partners.

⚖️ Nūmi's Values

☀️ Positivity : At Nūmi, we cultivate positivity every day. Our mission drives us to communicate with passion and energy, always keeping the bigger impact in sight. We celebrate quick wins, but never lose track of our ultimate goal.

Excellence : At Nūmi, excellence starts with dedication and a commitment to constant improvement. We embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and push ourselves to deliver high-quality results. Through effort, attention to detail, and integrity, we grow both individually and collectively as a team.

Team-Work and Pedagogy : At Nūmi, we believe that teamwork makes us stronger. We encourage knowledge-sharing, open feedback, and mutual respect. Each Nūmiz is here to lift others up, ensuring that the collective succeeds.

Ambition : At Nūmi, we set ambitious goals and challenge ourselves to think big. Nūmi is driven by bold ideas and relentless determination, always aiming for the stars to create real impact.

Why this role matters

As we move from proof-of-concept to first industrial batches and prepare for scale-up beyond pilot, we are seeking a senior leader to own Nūmi's industrialisation strategy end-to-end. This role is mission-critical for Nūmi's development and path to market. You will be the technical spine of our Bioprocess organisation, translating our science into a robust, scalable and cost-effective platform , from cell line management through upstream, downstream and formulation, all the way to first commercial supply.

Reporting to our CTO Eugénie, you will build and lead a talented technical team (Senior DSP Engineer, Lead of Upstream Bioprocess), define the scale-up roadmap, own capital expenditure decisions on facility and equipment, and act as the internal voice for what needs to happen technically to bring Nūmi to first commercial launch. You will interface daily with our CMC Lead, our Reg & QC Implementation Lead and our Preclinical & Bioactivity Lead to ensure that every industrial decision is defensible in the regulatory dossier and consistent with the functional profile of our ingredients.

Key Responsibilities

Industrialisation Strategy & Roadmap Ownership

• Define, own and continuously refine Nūmi's industrialisation roadmap, from current pilot scale to first commercial supply.
• Make the critical strategic decisions on the scale-up trajectory : bioreactor sizing, single-use vs stainless, in-house facility vs CDMO tech transfer, etc...
• Track and report on industrialisation milestones, risks, dependencies and timelines to company leadership and to the board.

Process Development Leadership (USP + DSP + Analytics + Automation)

• Lead the Bioprocess organisation across upstream (cell culture, media and feed development, bioreactor operations), downstream (purification, filtration, chromatography, formulation), automation and process analytics.
• Ensure end-to-end process robustness, reproducibility and characterisation, using DoE, QbD and PAT tools where appropriate.
• Own the technical narrative of Nūmi's process for internal, board and regulatory audiences.

Team Building & Talent Development

• Attract, develop and retain top technical talent. You will recruit and mentor Senior DSP Engineer, Mid DSP Engineer, and grow the Upstream and Downstream teams over time.
• Set ambitious individual objectives, calibrate performance, and build a culture of ownership, rigour and cross-functional collaboration.

Capital Expenditure & Unit Economics

• Own capex and opex planning for the industrialisation function : facility investments, equipment procurement, single-use consumables strategy.
• Drive the technoeconomic analysis of Nūmi's process : cost of goods, yield, throughput, sensitivity to scale.
• Optimise for cost, timing and risk in every scale-up decision.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with CMC Lead and Reg & QC Implementation Lead to ensure every process decision is captured in the regulatory dossier and every specification is defensible.
• Partner with our R&D team and our Preclinical & Bioactivity Lead to ensure functional properties are maintained across scale-up.
• Serve as the internal ambassador for what industrialisation demands from every function of the company.

Tech Transfer & External Partnerships

• Manage tech transfer activities to CDMOs or external manufacturing partners when relevant, including scoping, requests for proposals, technical transfer dossiers and on-site oversight.
• Build and maintain relationships with equipment vendors, engineering consultancies and facility partners.

Innovation & Digital Tools

• Evaluate, pilot and integrate novel bioprocess technologies and digital tools that accelerate development cycle times and improve process robustness.
• Partner with our Data Engineer Lead to ensure that every batch of data feeds a coherent industrialisation dataset.

Requirements

Experience & Knowledge

• MSc, PhD or engineering degree in bioprocess engineering, chemical engineering, biotechnology or a related discipline, with 10+ years of professional experience in industrial bioprocess or biomanufacturing .
• Proven leadership role in  at least one greater than 10M€ capex manufacturing scale-up project , from concept to commissioning.
• Already experienced in building and leading a technical team
• Deep expertise in mammalian cell culture bioprocessing preferred, but broader profiles are welcome : precision fermentation, cultivated meat scale-up, biologics manufacturing, or industrial food fermentation.
• Track record of scaling processes across at least two step-changes (e.g. 50 L → 500 L → 2000 L).
• Strong understanding of quality frameworks (QMS, HACCP, GMP-adjacent) and regulatory expectations for novel food or biologics products.

Leadership & Judgement

• Demonstrated ability to make critical strategic decisions under uncertainty and to align operational choices with commercial and regulatory objectives.
• Experience steering cross-functional teams and coordinating with Quality, Regulatory and Commercial functions.
• Experience negotiating with equipment vendors, engineering firms and CDMOs.
• Results-oriented, strong work ethic, thrives in fast-moving entrepreneurial environments.

Communication

• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to translate deep technical detail into strategic narrative for board, investors and regulators.

Bonus
Ideally, you have experience in some, but not necessarily all, of the following areas :

• Mammalian culture systems, precision fermentation, HMOs, milk ingredients purification, plant biomass fermentation.
• Novel food dossier support (Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, Novel Food) or biologics filing support.
• Facility design and commissioning at pilot or commercial scale.
• Startup or scale-up environment (Series A to C).

Benefits

Unique opportunity to be one of the first employees at an early stage biotech company, shaping the future of infant nutrition

Scale a foundational team: as one of the first senior hires, you will grow your team as the company scales

Access to top-quality facilities, research services and infrastructure

Competitive salary, part coverage of health insurance, lunch and transportation costs

⭐ Employee first mentality, we prioritize the well-being of our team members, both in terms of their mental and physical health

Recruitment process

• We first check that your skills match the expectations
• First interview with our cofounder and CTO Eugénie
• A technical case study in English to give you a taste of what we are working on at Nūmi
• A reference check
• A last interview on site (when possible) to meet cofounder and CEO Eden, part of the team and visit the labs & office

Nūmi is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from people from all walks of life