Scientist, Cell Therapy Process Development; In Vivo CAR-T

Overview

Challenging. Meaningful. Life‑changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it.

You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high‑achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Read more:

The Cell Therapy Thematic Research Center (CT TRC) is one of BMS’s differentiated research platforms delivering innovative therapies to patients. Our mission is to drive leadership in the use of cellular therapies to harness the power of the immune system in treating hematologic malignancies, solid cancers, and autoimmune disease. The team focuses on developing next‑generation, engineered cell‑based therapies and is committed to discovering and developing transformative therapies that harness the power of the immune system to improve patient outcomes.

The CT‑PRE team is seeking a Scientist to help translate next‑generation cell therapies from early research into robust development platforms. The Scientist will design and execute laboratory experiments both independently and collaboratively, contributing to a highly interactive, matrixed, agile, team‑driven environment. The ideal candidate will have prior industry experience with process development, preferably in viral vector production for CAR‑T therapy.

• Design and conduct laboratory experiments to evaluate gene delivery and cell engineering strategies for CAR‑T manufacturing feasibility.
• Lead work streams focused on optimizing and implementing scalable lentiviral vector production for in‑vivo CAR‑T platforms.
• Document experimental workflows, results, and deviations in electronic laboratory notebooks to ensure reproducibility and process understanding.
• Perform data analysis and communicate findings clearly to enable informed decision‑making by research and development teams.
• Participate in cross‑functional project teams and effectively communicate CT‑PRE activities, data, and recommendations.
• Collaborate closely with team members to coordinate experimental execution and deliver study outcomes.
• Train and mentor junior team members as appropriate.
• Demonstrate strong scientific rigor through critical thinking, problem‑solving, troubleshooting, and attention to detail.

• Bachelor’s Degree: 5+ years of academic and/or industry experience.
• Master’s Degree: 3+ years of academic and/or industry experience.
• Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree in the Life Sciences:
  No experience necessary.

• Experience with viral vector process development, including upstream production (e.g., suspension culture, transfection parameters, bioreactor scale‑up) and downstream purification and concentration strategies.
• Experience developing and optimizing bioprocesses intentionally designed for scalability into STR culture and manufacturability.
• Strong understanding of viral transduction mechanisms, tropism and integration.
• Proficiency with aseptic mammalian cell culture, preferably including primary T cell culture, activation and expansion.
• Familiarity with analytical characterization and critical quality attributes for an in‑vivo CAR‑T drug product (titer, purity, potency, sterility).
• Understanding of T‑cell biology and immunology relevant to CAR‑T – activation, transduction efficiency, phenotype and functional assays.
• Experience with T‑cell manufacturing workflows – apheresis material handling, activation, gene delivery, expansion, formulation.
• Understanding of statistical design‑of‑experiments methodology and data analysis for process optimization.
• Familiarity with lipid nanoparticle (LNP) or other nanoparticle‑based delivery systems for in‑vivo and/or ex‑vivo T‑cell targeting and engineering.
• Knowledge of, or hands‑on experience with, site‑specific gene‑editing (preferably CRISPR‑Cas, base or prime…