PLANT TISSUE CULTURE

PLANT TISSUE CULTURE & BIOSECURITY SCIENTIST Auxly Leamington, Staples, ON, CA 4 days ago Requisition ID: 1139 Salary Range: $55,000.00 To $90,000.00 Annually PLANT TISSUE CULTURE & BIOSECURITY SCIENTIST LEAMINGTON, ON About Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. Auxly is an international cannabis company dedicated to bringing innovative, effective, and high-quality cannabis products to the medical, wellness and adult-use markets. Auxly's experienced team of industry first-movers and enterprising visionaries has secured a diversified supply of raw cannabis, strong clinical, scientific, and operating capabilities and leading research and development infrastructure in order to create trusted products and brands in an expanding global market.

About the role
Reporting to the Chief Science Officer and serving as an integral member of the Auxly Leamington team, the Plant Tissue Culture & Biosecurity Scientist will establish and independently operate Auxly's in-house plant tissue culture, cultivar rejuvenation and genetic biobanking program. The Scientist will use apical meristem, shoot-tip and nodal culture to rejuvenate, propagate, preserve and periodically renew commercial genetics, while maintaining sterile laboratory operations, equipment, documentation and business continuity. A separate core function is ongoing pathogen surveillance for Auxly's large commercial greenhouse, including risk-based sampling and RT-qPCR virus and viroid screening. The position is based at Auxly Leamington and requires work at Auxly Chatham as program needs dictate. Work is expected to average approximately 70% in Leamington and 30% in Chatham over time, rather than following a fixed weekly schedule. What can you expect to do?
- Embod Auxly’s business mission and strategy and act in a responsible, ethical, and honest manner while consistently leading by example.
- Establish and independently operate an in-house plant tissue culture program encompassing apical meristem rejuvenation, standard micropropagation, acclimatization, planned genetic renewal and slow growth biobanking.
- Develop and optimize cultivar-specific methods to recover declining or pathogen-affected genetics, maintain healthy and traceable cultures, and deliver refreshed plant material according to operational needs.
- Maintain sterile laboratory operations, including laminar-flow work, media and agar preparation, autoclave use, contamination control, and operation and maintenance of microscopes, growth chambers, phytotrons and related equipment.
- Maintain working and backup genetic banks, complete cultivar identity and traceability records, and contingency plans for contamination, power loss, equipment failure and loss of critical cultures.
- Develop and operate an ongoing, risk-based greenhouse pathogen surveillance program, including representative sampling, DNA/RNA extraction and RT-qPCR testing on the installed Agilent AriaDx platform using approved Medicinal Genomics and Norgen Biotek assays, including HLVd, LCV and CanCV screening.
- Review assay controls and results, trend findings, coordinate confirmation of suspect detections, and work with cultivation, quality, IPM and scientific personnel to investigate plant-health risks and implement appropriate biosecurity measures.
- Evaluate and adopt additional scientifically supported methods to improve plant health and strengthen biosecurity across the large commercial greenhouse operation.
- Maintain SOPs, culture and testing records, equipment logs, tissue culture inventory reconciliation, Health Canada-compliant inter-site transfer documentation, and experimental records suitable for technical review and SR&ED support.
- Create and submit samples to third-party laboratories, track sample progress, manage testing programs, and interpret analytical results to support tissue culture, pathogen screening, and operational decision-making.
- Collaborate with vendors to identify new opportunities and technologies to improve product quality and performance.
- Ensure cannabis industry trends and emerging plant-health technologies are embodied in Auxly’s tissue culture and biosecurity programs.
- Review and discuss conclusions with Auxly management regarding progress of work and effectively communicate information to peers and management in the form of presentations and reports as required.
- Utilize all available resources to identify problems and be proactive in the implementation of solutions.
- Use the scientific method and experimentation to determine the best techniques for achieving the desired results.
- Assist in the maintenance of inventory and ordering for laboratory chemicals and consumables.
- Motivate, train and mentor peers and junior staff as required.
- Ensure that program and project timelines are met and that projects are completed within budget.
- Collaborate with other team members and organization members to facilitate knowledge exchange and meet departmental and corporate goals.