Process Dev Engineering Senior Scientist, Media Development

Job Description

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people living with serious diseases, with a focus on specialty markets. We invest in diseases where there is a significant unmet need and we can have a transformative impact for patients, not just an incremental benefit. We invest the majority of our resources in research and development (R&D) to discover new medicines, because we believe the true value in our industry is unleashed through scientific innovation. Cell and genetic therapies represent two rapidly emerging therapeutic modalities with the potential to treat—and even cure—several of the diseases Vertex is focused on, including sickle cell disease and type 1 diabetes. Our Cell and Genetic Therapies (CGT) teams bring together the best biology, technologies, and enhanced manufacturing capabilities to ensure we bring these cutting-edge transformative therapies to patients as quickly as possible.

Vertex CGT is seeking a talented individual to join our Process Development team to support media development and optimization. The focus of this position is to contribute to the innovative stem cell culture medium development for cell and gene therapy applications. This position will collaborate with cross functional teams to advance media optimizations, with impactful deliverables on enabling large scale process and cost of goods reduction for cell therapy at clinical and commercial scale manufacturing, as well as process robustness improvement through fundamental process understanding. The ideal candidate has deep expertise in media development and optimization, fundamental cell culture process understanding, solid knowledge and extensive experience with “Omics”, PAT tools, perfusion technology, and high throughput automatic cell culture platforms. The position will be based in Boston, MA.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, execution, and analysis of experiments to evaluate new medium components and supplements, assessing their impact on cell culture performance.

• Lead the development of robust and cost-effective cell culture media for commercial scale manufacturing

• Troubleshoot complex raw material sourcing and control challenges.

• Characterize and continuous optimization of the stem cell culture process and medium using advanced analytical tools including spent media analysis and omics.

• Lead new technology initiatives to further optimize stem cell culture process and media.

• Support authoring and reviewing technical reports, regulatory filings, source documents, patents and external publications.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, aligning project goals, sharing results, and fostering a collaborative working environment.

• Ensure data integrity by timely completion of phase-appropriate documentation, including electronic notebook system, development protocols, and technical reports to support future technology transfers and regulatory filings.

• Ensure compliance with lab safety procedures.

• Mentor junior team members and lead by example, working closely with the team to conduct hands-on experiments in the lab.

Minimum Requirements

• Degree in relevant engineering or scientific discipline (e.g., chemical or biochemical engineering, natural or life sciences).

• PhD with 3+ years of relevant industry work experience, MS with 6+ years of relevant industry experience or a BS with 8+ years of industry experience.

• Strong fundamental knowledge in cell culture metabolism and biological pathways, and extensive experience of medium development (stem cell culture experience is preferred)

• In-depth understanding and extensive hands-on experience of cell culture process development, perfusion process development, and bioreactors across scales. Experience with high throughput and automated cell culture platforms is highly preferred.

• Extensive knowledge and experience on raw material control and sourcing considerations.

• Solid knowledge and experience with statistical principles and design of experiments (DOE).

• Must have working knowledge of cGMP.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Ability to handle multiple tasks while meeting timelines and adapt to changing priorities.

• Excellent organizational skills and high attention to detail.

• Participate in weekend work rotation with the broader team.

• Authorized to legally work in the US.

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Pay Range:

$126,900 - $190,400

Disclosure Statement:

The range provided is based on what we believe is a reas