Scientist or Senior Scientist, Cell Line Development

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.

Position Summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic candidate to join Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cell Line Development team in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This group is part of the larger GUCLD (Global Upstream and Cell Line Development) organization, which primarily focuses on delivering high-quality cell lines and cell culture processes to advance clinical and commercial programs. This position involves fundamental responsibilities, including the development of expression vectors and mammalian cell lines for the production of monoclonal antibodies, bi-specific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates, and requires close collaboration across functions with upstream, downstream, analytical development, and R&D teams. The successful candidate will leverage expertise in protein folding, trafficking, and advanced cell engineering to drive innovation in mammalian cell line development for recombinant protein production. This role requires strong experimental skills, scientific leadership, and the ability to collaborate effectively in cross-functional teams within a fast-paced research environment. This position offers excellent opportunities for professional growth and career development in biologics process development.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead cell line development projects and perform key activities associated with production cell line development, including transfection, selection, single cell cloning, high-throughput screening, characterization of clonal cell lines using scale-down models, cell banking, and cell line stability studies.
• Design and optimize mammalian expression vectors and systems; perform transcript quantitation and genetic characterization as needed.
• Serve as a subject matter expert to support cell line development in cross-functional CMC teams, as well as author and review regulatory filings for early and late-stage projects.
• Evaluate and introduce innovative technologies to optimize therapeutic protein folding and production.
• Generate hypotheses, plan and execute experiments, analyze data, and draw actionable conclusions.
• Collaborate closely with upstream, downstream, and analytical development teams.
• Present technical summaries to peers and upper management, as well as prepare technical writing for development reports and regulatory filing support. Publish and/or present scientific findings at external conferences.

This role may be appointed at the Scientist or Senior Scientist level. Candidates with demonstrated experience and expertise will be considered for the appropriate level.

Qualifications & Experience

• Scientist: Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, or relevant disciplines, with 0-2 years of relevant experience or MS with 2-4 years relevant experience or BS with 5-7 years relevant experience.
• Senior Scientist: Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, or relevant disciplines, with 2-4 years of relevant experience or MS with 4-6 years relevant experience or BS with 7-9 years relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience in mammalian cell line development. Familiarity with Western blotting, cell staining, and FACS sorting.
• Strong molecular biology skills in vector design, plasmid construction, cloning, purification, and characterization.
• Proficient in transcript quantification and genetic characterization, with hands-on experience in RNA-based technologies such as siRNA and miRNA.
• In-depth knowledge of protein and antibody folding and trafficking in the cell.
• Experience with advanced cell engineering, omics, and synthetic biology is preferred.
• Experience operating AMBR microbioreactors and automated liquid handlin