Senior Scientist - Vaccines and Advanced Biotechnologies Process R&D

Job Description

Our department (Vaccines and Advanced Biotechnologies, VAX) Process R&D is responsible for the development and clinical manufacturing of DS and Drug Product Intermediates (DPI) for the vaccine and advanced therapy pipeline, spanning from preclinical to commercialization stages. We are part of the Process R&D organization, which enables modality-agnostic DS process development and clinical manufacturing for all of our company's pipeline. We interface closely with our Discovery organizations across Infectious Disease and Vaccines, Oncology, Neuroscience, and Immunology.  

We are seeking an innovative, highly motivated, and experienced Senior Scientist to join us at our research site in West Point, PA (outside Philadelphia). The candidate will be responsible for conceiving, designing, and implementing experiments to advance the development of recombinant protein vaccines and therapeutics.  This will require collaboration with cross-functional teams including colleagues in Discovery, Analytical, Formulation, and Enabling Technologies. The candidate should have a strong background in recombinant protein therapeutic/vaccine design and understanding of various purification modalities including but not limited to column chromatography (SEC, IEX, Affinity, MMC, HIC, Mixed/multi-mode, etc.) and tangential flow filtration (TFF, UF/DF), as well as advanced knowledge in protein handling and purification techniques. The candidate will be expected to independently design, execute, and analyze experiments.   

The Sr. Scientist candidate must demonstrate well-developed skills for effective communication of scientific information in both written and verbal format and should have a strong history of publication in peer-reviewed journals. We value creative-thinking, teamwork, and independent analytical problem solving. If you are a highly motivated team player with a strong desire to impact basic research and translational medicine, we invite you to consider joining our team.  

Position may require the employee to be willing to work with infectious agents and/or pathogens and/or potent compounds. Travel may be needed to support technology transfers. This position will require occasional off-hour and weekend work. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:    

• Evaluation/optimization of purification strategies for recombinant protein vaccines 

• Collaborate on the evaluation/optimization of upstream and downstream process unit operations   

• Analysis of experiments through basic analytical techniques including SDS-PAGE, UV-Vis, HPLC, Western blot, etc. 

• Data interpretation and presentation, manuscript/patent preparation 

Required or Preferred Experience and Skills:   

• Experience in purification unit operations using AKTA or similar FPLC systems  

• Knowledge of protein biochemistry (e.g., structure, function, modeling), and cutting-edge methodologies related to protein isolation/purification  

• Ability to understand and execute experiments independently in fulfillment of assigned program objectives in a manner that meets quality and timeline expectations  

• Well-developed organizational, record-keepi