Senior Specialist, Associate Scientist

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Job Summary:

CAR-T cell therapies are a revolutionary advance in medical treatment, but the success of these new treatments depends upon our ability to develop robust and affordable production methods. As part of our manufacturing development team, we are seeking a highly capable and independent Senior Associate Scientist to work with a multidisciplinary group of engineers and scientists to support the design, development and integration of novel cell therapy production technologies in efforts to advance next generation cell therapy manufacturing.

Job Description:

The candidate will serve as the technical interface between our technology and process teams and will be responsible for providing technical leadership to execute on the evaluation and operationalization of next generation cell expansion technologies. The candidate will be responsible for demonstrating T cell expansion/incubation technology robustness and transferring methods into Cell Therapy processes. This role requires direct hands-on experience with cell expansion technology and in-depth method and instrument troubleshooting skills. The candidate will additionally be expected to execute T cell culture experiments using a combination of scale-down models and manufacturing scale technologies and equipment.

• Partner with colleagues in process and technology development teams to design, develop and implement innovative T cell expansion/incubation equipment
• Design and execute experiments to evaluate OEM system configurations and designs, demonstrate technology suitability for Cell Therapy programs and engage with key stake holders to ensure technology development alignment with process and GMP manufacturing requirements
• Lead the evaluation & testing of bespoke prototype and GMP systems to demonstrate suitability for applicable cell therapy processes and integration with BMS’ manufacturing platform, in alignment with OEM system and functional requirements 
• Execute feasibility testing of emerging technologies and leverage technical experience to evaluate the feasibility of integrated selection process unit operations
• Compile comprehensive data package, operating procedures, and technical documentation to support technology implementation within development and manufacturing organizations

Qualifications:

• M.Sc in Chemical or Biological Engineering with 2+ years, or B.Sc with 4+ years, of relevant technology development experience within the Cell and Gene Therapy or Biologics industry 
• Hands-on experience with development and operationalization of cell expansion technologies and bioreactors to support Cell Therapy applications 
• Proven ability to independently manage multiple projects concurrently within a fast-pace, cross-functional environment 
• Proven ability to develop and execute on project plans 
• Experience with technical equipment support and troubleshooting 
• Demonstrated independence in experimental design, execution, data analysis and troubleshooting 
• Experience with tissue culture, preferably with primary cells

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in use of automated equipment control, preferably DeltaV
• Knowledge in immunology and T cell biology 
• Experience with cell selection, T cell activation, lentiviral transduction, cell expansion and cryopreservation
• Experience with Microsoft Excel, Prism (Graphpad), FlowJo and statistical programs for data analysis (JMP)
• Excellent technical writing and oral communication skills
• Driven individual that works well independently and within a multidisciplinary team
• Experience with Augmented Reality