Assoc Scientist - Start Immediately

We are looking for a creative Assoc Scientist to join our incredible team at Unicon Pharma Inc in Gaithersburg, MD.
Growing your career as a Full Time Assoc Scientist is an amazing opportunity to develop excellent skills.
If you are strong in presentation, people management and have the right drive for the job, then apply for the position of Assoc Scientist at Unicon Pharma Inc today!

Description:

Title: Chemical Engineer/Biochemical Engineer/Biological Engineer
BS with 0-5 years or MS 0-3 years of experience
Location: 100% onsite in Gaithersburg, MD
Duration: Extension and/or permanent placement possible based on based on business needs and performance


Description:
As a purification Associate Scientist in Bioprocess Technology and Engineering (BTE), you would join a team developing AstraZeneca's Next Generation Manufacturing Platform. You and the team would develop the purification platform to support a high-density perfusion cell culture for biological therapeutics, including antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and Fc-fusions. You would apply the Next Generation Manufacturing methods to drug candidates in Phase I, II, and those entering Phase III. As the molecules progress through the development lifecycle, you will have opportunity to develop the process characterization methods to support commercialization. You would work on a matrix team with members from cell line development, cell culture development, purification development, analytical development, formulation development, and data analytics and modelling. You would have opportunity to operate small scale and pilot scale purification systems. Your work would be used to design processes so that they can be scaled to purify 10kg-20kg per day. You would be responsible for working jointly with your upstream colleagues to link the bioreactor to the purification process. You would draw upon your publication history to publish peer-reviewed articles of your work.


Summary of the group:
The Biotechnology and Engineering team works to develop and apply new technologies and engineering analysis to manufacturing biologics such as the COVID-19 antibody treatment being developed at AstraZeneca. We use engineering and science to understand and solve problems. Our team will work with bioreactors and genetically modified Chinese hamster ovary cells to produce new drugs, and we will develop new ways of purifying them so that we can provide them to patients around the world. We work closely with a much larger team including scientists, engineers, and project managers from the UK and US.
Some team members will rotate through cell culture and purification development, and get experience at the bench scale and at production scale in a non-GMP manufacturing facility.


Main Duties & Responsibilities:
Study and develop next generation mammalian purification processes, including chromatography, filtration, ultrafiltration operations
Build or use mathematical models that predict purification
Be part of a team that tests new manufacturing methods at a manufacturing scale
Develop automation methods that control the entire manufacturing process


Education & Experience Requirements:
A BS or Master's Degree with an engineering discipline focused on biologics, ideally protein based recombinant purification, with a focus in a process engineering field (e.g., chemical or biochemical engineering) is strongly preferred.


Industrial experience developing or supporting clinical or commercial biotechnology is not required.


Required Skills:
Buffer formulation, lab equipment operation such as Akta Avant, peristaltic pumps, pressure sensors, pH probes, pipet operation, UV spectrophotometry
Experimental design with proteins
Theory of Protein ion exchange and affinity chromatography or affinity precipitation


Desired Skills:
Fundamental and practical understanding of downstream unit operations
Arduino programming and building prototypes
Experience with GMP equipment design and use of data management systems.
Skilled in problem-solving.
Skilled in effectively explaining complex scientific or engineering concepts to a broader, diverse, cross-functional audience.

Benefits of working as a Assoc Scientist in Gaithersburg, MD:

● Company offers great benefits
● Company offers career progression opportunities
● Competitive salary