Associate Scientist - Downstream Bioprocess

San Mateo, United States | Posted on 10/01/2026

Our client, a world leader in life sciences and biotechnology, is looking for an “Associate Scientist
- Downstream Bioprocess” based in Foster City, CA.

Job Duration:

Long Term Contract(Possibility of Extension)

Pay Rate : $54.50/hr onW2

Company Benefits: Medical, Paid Sickleave, 401K

The ideal candidate will have practical experience executing downstream purification processes in a pilot, manufacturing, or process development environment and be comfortable operating chromatography and filtration equipment while working within controlled documentation and schedule-driven workflows.

• Plan and execute pilot-scale downstream purification runs, including clarification, chromatography, TFF, viral filtration, depth filtration, and centrifugation .
• Prepare buffers and reagents and perform equipment setup, operation, cleaning, and teardown.
• Operate ÄKTA chromatography systems and UNICORN software for process execution and data collection.
• Pack and unpack chromatography columns and support chromatography process activities.
• Operate single-use equipment and filtration systems in a pilot-scale environment.
• Monitor process performance, analyze run data, identify process issues, and troubleshoot deviations in real time.
• Accurately document activities in SOPs, batch records, run sheets, and technical summaries .
• Communicate observations, process results, and troubleshooting findings to cross-functional teams.
• Support process scale-up, comparability studies, technology transfer, and laboratory readiness activities.
• Follow applicable safety, quality, and controlled-documentation procedures.
• Support occasional weekend or extended-hour coverage based on process schedules.

• AA/AS degree with 4+ years of relevant industry experience in downstream purification or bioprocessing; OR
• BS/BE degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Biology, or a related field with 2+ years of relevant industry experience .
• Hands-on pilot-scale downstream bioprocessing experience is required .

• Chromatography
• TFF
• Depth filtration
• Centrifugation
• Clarification
• Buffer preparation
• Hands-on experience operating ÄKTA systems and UNICORN .
• Experience with chromatography column operation, including packing/unpacking, is highly relevant.

• End-to-end downstream purification experience rather than experience limited to a single unit operation.
• Biologics pilot plant or manufacturing experience.
• Experience supporting process development, scale-up, technology transfer, or comparability activities.
• Experience with single-use technologies and equipment .
• GMP/cGMP or GMP-adjacent experience.
• Experience with controlled documentation, batch records, SOPs, and deviation reporting
  .