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Senior / Lead Scientist

Today, Lonza is a global leader in life sciences operating across three continents. While we work in science, there’s no magic formula to how we do it. Our greatest scientific solution is talented people working together, devising ideas that help businesses to help people. In exchange, we let our people own their careers. Their ideas, big and small, genuinely improve the world. And that’s the kind of work we want to be part of.

We are currently looking for a Senior/Lead scientist with experience in Molecular Biology and Mammalian Cell Culture to complement our molecular biology R&D team in Cambridge. In this role, you will be working on projects that create novel gene expression platforms to generate CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cell lines with enhanced performance characteristics.

You will be working within a team of scientists with a diverse range of skills and experience across a range of fields including cell and molecular biology, mammalian cell culture, recombinant protein expression, protein engineering, bioinformatics and cell engineering. In this role you will have the opportunity to join an innovative team that will develop new and emerging technologies in the field of biologics manufacturing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Innovation and technology development of new expression systems and related process development services - 80% lab based role
• Generation of novel vector platforms incorporating panels of synthetic genetic elements for enhancing cellular production capabilities
• Testing of next generation plasmid systems in a transient and stable context including high level expression of complex biological molecules in fed-batch experiments
• Collate, analyse, evaluate and sign-off data to produce good quality information and records
• Lead technical work under the direction of Associate Principal scientists and above as well as presenting data in written reports and for oral presentations
• Contribute ideas and opinions to scientific discussions to aid the development of new technologies and actively keep abreast of relevant academic literature
• Work closely with other groups within R&D to deliver solutions or improvements in recombinant protein (in particular with R&D Process Development and R&D Microbial)

Key Requirements:

• PhD or MSc plus significant industry experience in Life Sciences/ Science/ Molecular Biology/ Biotechnology or practical experience in an industrial setting
• R&D technological background in molecular biology, and relevant mammalian cell culture techniques – experience with CHO suspension cultures is advantageous
• Key molecular biology skills desired include gene cloning and vector construction including Golden Gate assembly and experience in the use of suitable software packages such as DNAStar Lasergene and/or SnapGene, VectorNTI. Experience with any of these or of Gibson Assembly is advantageous.
• Key cell culture techniques desired include mammalian cell culture, transient transfections/stable cell lines/pools and fed-batch culture. Experience in qPCR/digital PCR and evaluation of cell lines by flow cytometry/FACS is advantageous
• Good working knowledge of statistics, expertise in design of experiments/multivariate techniques while not essential is desirable
• Advantageous general lab skills include experience with automated liquid handling platforms
• Proven track record in working in a relevant discipline (e.g. creating and/or manipulation of mammalian expression vectors and expression systems; running various relevant cell culture systems e.g., static, suspension cell AND bioreactor culture)
• Ability to work independently in a professional lab environment – prior experience in a professional laboratory environment is not required but is advantageous.

Every day, Lonza’s products and services have a positive impact on millions of people. For us, this is not only a great privilege, but also a great responsibility. How we achieve our business results is just as important as the achievements themselves. At Lonza, we respect and protect our people and our environment. Any success we achieve is no success at all if not achieved ethically.

People come to Lonza for the challenge and creativity of solving complex problems and developing new ideas in life sciences. In return, we offer the satisfaction that comes with improving lives all around the world. The satisfaction that comes with making a meaningful difference.

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Reference: R53112