Job description:
 

Our employees are able to develop their careers in exciting new medical technologies, and so can you.

Oxford Biomedica’s Process R&D team consists of experienced scientists and engineers that have extensive expertise in all aspects of upstream and downstream development.  PR&D take processes from the laboratory “bench” scale and apply process expertise and engineering fundamentals for delivery to Manufacturing.

We are currently recruiting for a Scientist IV PRD (Upstream) to join the team.  The purpose of this role is to provide Upstream Process support for a new AAV production team within the Process Research and Development group and to support the development, optimisation and implementation of manufacturing processes suitable for the large-scale production of a variety of AAV based gene therapy vectors. The role will also involve development activities to support delivery of in-house and collaborative process development projects for a variety of viral vectors.

Your responsibilities in this role would be:

• Develop and optimize upstream processes for producing viral vectors, working within the Process R&D group.
• Design and execute small scale and laboratory scale bioreactor cell culture activities for scale-up/scale-down of existing bioprocesses. Support new product process development and scale-up activities. This requires working with miniature cell-cultivation systems and the scale-up to larger bioreactors.
• Involvement in activities ranging from vector manufacture, process optimization, technology transfer, and process validation activities associated with the manufacture of new gene therapy vectors.
• Perform routine cell culture activities.
• Lead the design and execution of experiments /investigations in accordance with correct methodologies and procedures under the direction of the Team Leader or a senior scientist
• Carry out such other tasks as are required from time to time for the efficient running of the Company’s business upon request from your line manager or a Director of the Company.
• Analyse and interpret experimental data for reporting to stakeholders within OXB
• Prepare written reports to a high standard and present data within the Process R&D group.
• Liaise with other members of the Process R&D group and assist with other development activities where appropriate.

To be successful in this role, you will have the following skills and experience:

• BSc, MSc or PhD (or equivalent) in a relevant Bioscience with an appropriate level of relevant experience.
• Relevant laboratory experience in one or more of the following areas: Tissue Culture, Molecular Biology or Protein Chemistry.
• Experience with the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy vectors via transient transfection of mammalian cells
• A sound understanding of cell culture principles and processes.
• Experience with suspension cell culture.
• An understanding of metabolite analysis in the context of mammalian cell culture and media development.
• Pharmaceutical industry experience in biological research and development, or equivalent experience gained elsewhere.
• A working knowledge of downstream purification techniques utilised with AAV vectors
• A working knowledge of analytical methodologies utilised for characterisation of AAV vectors
• Experience with bioprocess analytical techniques, such as but not limited to, cell-based assays, flow cytometry, nucleic acid extractions, qPCR, SDS PAGE, Western blot analysis, ELISA, and HPLC.
• Capable of explaining clearly why an experiment is being conducted and how the experiments help the group meet their objectives.

Do you want to feel inspired every day? We’re future-focused and our business is growing rapidly. We succeed together through passion, commitment and team work, and so can you.

Collaborate. Contribute. Change lives.

We offer:

We are a pioneering gene therapy business, and our mission is delivering life changing gene therapies to patients. We work together, motivated to make a difference, and so can you.

We are pioneers; no one else does what we do.

Gene therapy is the treatment of disease by the delivery of therapeutic DNA into a patient’s cells. It is transforming medicine as we know it, long term and potentially curative treatments for a wide range of diseases are now possible.

We are at the forefront of this exciting area. We have a strong reputation in gene therapy, with world leading expertise in lentiviral vectors. We have a leading, integrated platform of exclusive technologies to design, develop and bioprocess unique gene based medicines, both in house and with partners.

We drive credible science to realise incredible results.

Whether you’re motivated by the discovery and development of product candidates within Research, or by cutting edge tools and technologies including AI and automation of our contract development and manufacturing organisation, we can offer you a career like no other. We are excited about our future. Join us and change lives.