Senior Scientist, Vector & Cell Line Development

Senior Scientist Vector and Cell-line development

Summary:

Catalent Cell and Gene Therapy is looking to recruit a Senior Scientist Vector and Cell-line development to join our growing team in Baltimore, MD.

Catalent, Inc. is a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) whose mission is to develop, manufacture, and supply products that help people live better and healthier lives. Catalent is dedicated to delivering unparalleled service to pharma, biotech, and consumer health customers, supporting product development, launch, and full life-cycle supply. With time-tested experience in development sciences, delivery technologies, and multi-modality manufacturing, Catalent supports the acceleration of development programs and the launch of more than a hundred new products every year. Powered by thousands of scientists and technicians and the latest technology platforms at more than 40 global sites, Catalent supplies billions of doses of life-enhancing and life-saving treatments for patients annually.

The Viral Vector R&D, Product Development Team supports development of AAV, LVV viral therapies, vector development, cell-line development, Innovation areas including mRNA, exosomes, enzymes, viral proteins. In addition, the Innovation team participates in due diligence evaluation of partners, vendors, and potential acquisition targets.  Within Biomodalities, the C&GT business unit continues to develop technology in-house and evaluates potential external offerings. The team also supports Master Cell Bank production, Plasmid Master Banks, and collaborates with Manufacturing Science and Technology (MS&T) to support tech transfer and provide investigation support to GMP.  In addition, novel technologies are progressed through a Catalent corporate initiative, for creating integrated Platform offerings to our customers.  People joining our team will have the opportunity for career development as our business continues to grow and expand. 

The successful candidate will work with a team of scientists from Process Development to enable the delivery of life-changing gene therapies to patients.  The Senior Scientist, Cell-line development will be recognized as a technical expert and a scientific lead. He/she will be responsible for new technology evaluation, development, and implementation for improved workflows and systems. The candidate will be forecasting and planning resource requirements for projects assigned. Finally, the successful candidate will undertake mentoring of team members to guide them in developing novel cell-lines and processes.

Catalent is committed to a Patient First culture through excellence in quality and compliance, and to the safety of every patient, consumer and Catalent employee.

This is a full-time on-site position, Monday – Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

The Role:

• Generate stable packaging and produce cell lines and clones for clinical and commercial programs for AAV, and lentiviral vectors
• Design and evaluate novel plasmid vectors for optimal AAV, and/or lentiviral yields along with improved packaging.
• Execute the cell line development programs to develop robust, highly productive cell lines which encompass plasmid construction, transfection, cloning, high-throughput plate-based screening, and execution of cell line screening experiments using a high-throughput ambr bioreactor system. 
• Propose and execute technology improvements to the host cell line, equipment, and methods, furthering their own skill sets while advancing the capabilities of the group. 
• Evaluate novel cell transfection and cell activation/expansion strategies. 
• Novel methods development to support new modalities for in-process assays.  Perform various immunological and cell-based assays to support client research.
• Must be a strong team player and can collaborate effectively on complex projects.
• Demonstrates capability to mentor junior colleagues in a team environment.
• Troubleshoot scientific and technical challenges and contribute to their resolution.
• Ensures effective, and timely documentation in laboratory notebooks and internal Technical Reports.
• Other duties as assigned.

The Candidate:

• PhD degree in a biological or engineering discipline (biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or equivalent) with 7+ years of experience OR
• MS degree in a biological or engineering discipline (biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or equivalent) with 9+ years of experience
• Experience with a wider array of cell types to include HEK293, NK cells, T, NK, Treg, Mac, TCR, TIL, and others is a plus.
• Sequencing approaches including PacBio, ONT NGS experience is desired<