Scientist II - Molecular Analytics & NGS

Make your mark for patients

The Gene Therapy Vector Core group is seeking a Scientist II in Upstream Process Development and Bioprocess Analyticsteam to support genetic medicine projects and AAV gene therapy platform development. The candidate will work across functional teams and will be responsible for developing analytical methods including short- and long-read NGS, cell-based potency assays for AAV, and ddPCR assay development. Additional responsibilities include supporting routine testing for characterization of research grade materials and for guiding process development activities.

Responsibilities:

Leading the development and execution of custom molecular assays including ddPCR and qPCR to support gene therapy analytics

Optimizing and applying cutting-edge next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to characterize impurities and assess heterogeneity in AAV drug products

Utilizing strong biology foundations to help guide or run cell-based potency assays to evaluate biological function and activity

Support gene therapy platform development through the application of evolving analytical methodologies and cross-team collaborations including capsid engineering

Function independently and cross functionally across various UCB teams (data scientists, cell biologists, disease area experts, CMC professionals, etc.)Ability to manage priorities, engage/communicate in a multidisciplinary environment, and provide exemplary documentation of experimental work Required Education,

Skills and Experience:

MS degree in Molecular Biology, or related field, with over 10 years of experience – OR – PhD or Post Doc with 2+ years of experience.
4+ years expertise in PCR based assay development and molecular characterization of AAVs or biomolecular characterization for gene therapies4+ years of NGS (long and/or short read technology) development experience (genomic DNA, targeted amplicon, small RNA, and RNA-seq) to enable genomic and transcriptomic analyses for early drug discovery and drug substance analytics4+ years of experience serving as a functional representative in multi-disciplinary drug discovery project teams

Preferred Education,

Skills and Experience:

PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field with direct AAV characterization experience supporting molecular analytics of AAV vectors 6+ years of experience in molecular analytical characterization of AAV vectors6+ years of hands-on experience with NGS library preparation, Illumina and Pac Bio data acquisition and QC to support drug discovery activities

At least 6 years of experience in drug discovery or development in a pre-clinical setting with a focus on molecular characterization, analytical method development, characterizing impurities and identifying biological complexities.

Serve as the primary owner of developing, optimizing, and/or routinely conducting cell based potency assays to evaluate biological function and activity

Salary:

This position’s reasonably anticipated base salary range is $99,200 to $130,200 per year. The actual salary offered will consider internal equity and may also vary depending on the candidate’s region, job-related knowledge, skills and experience, among other factors.

Are you ready to ‘go beyond’ to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you!

About us UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are over 9.000 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science. Why work with us? At UCB, we don’t just complete tasks, we create value. We aren’t afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients.

We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone…