Senior Associate Scientist (Upstream Polysaccharide Process Development)

Responsibilities

• Support study design, execution, and analysis of experiments for upstream polysaccharide bacterial fermentation (BSL2) and vaccine production.
• Execute experiments to optimize upstream process parameters including media, feed, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and agitation to enhance yield and quality.
• Perform microbiology tasks such as plating, colony selection, Gram staining, and cell enumeration.
• Manage fermentation vessel assembly, script writing for process automation, and execute experiments in shake-flasks and lab-scale bioreactors.
• Operate and maintain instrumentation for bacterial fermentation and primary recovery processes (centrifugation, filtration) using aseptic techniques.
• Support analytical method execution, including optical density, residual metabolites, and polysaccharide concentration.
• Maintain accurate records in laboratory notebooks and Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN).
• Prepare and review protocols, technical reports, SOPs, and batch records.
• Collaborate with downstream, analytical, and manufacturing teams to ensure seamless technology transfer.

Requirements

• MSc in Chemical/Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, or a similar degree with 3+ years of industry experience, OR a BSc with 5+ years of industry experience.
• Proven experience handling microorganisms using proper aseptic techniques for upstream processing in flasks or bioreactors.
• Hands-on experience with microbial culture, fermentation processes, media optimization, and relevant analytical technologies.
• Proficiency with Design of Experiments (DoE) principles and DoE software.
• Working knowledge of GMP requirements.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and JMP.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with process characterization.
• Expertise in cell banking, colony selection, and genetic analysis of recombinant strains.
• Experience with depth filtration or continuous centrifugation.
• Ability to develop and optimize scripts for instrumentation (e.g., Ambr® systems) using Python or R.

About the Company

Vaxcyte is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases. We are driven by core values of rethinking convention, aiming high, leading with heart, and modeling excellence.