Abzena plc

Associate Principal Scientist

Abzena plc • $110K — $130K *
Bristol, PA 19007In-Person
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • PhD in chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, chemical biology, or similar with >7 years of industry experience in biotherapeutic conjugate development or bioconjugation.
  • Demonstrated expertise in bioconjugation or bioorthogonal chemistry for producing conjugates at various scales.
  • Thorough hands-on experience with small-scale and preparative chromatography systems for biomacromolecule purification.
  • Expertise in normal flow and tangential flow filtrations.
  • Knowledge of bioprocess optimization strategies and experimental design principles.

Responsibilities

  • Drive technical execution of bioconjugation activities, completing client and internal projects from start to finish.
  • Hands-on execution of chromatographic purifications and buffer preparation.
  • Optimize bioanalytical characterization of conjugate products.
  • Design and manage project plans and conjugation strategies to improve completion times.
  • Serve as the bioconjugation technical lead for internal and external communications.
  • Train and mentor assigned reports, while monitoring their performance.
  • Provide technical support for sales and proposals, including client-facing interactions.

Benefits

  • Opportunity for mentorship and leadership development.
  • Involvement in a cutting-edge bioconjugation lab environment.
  • Potential for cross-site collaboration with teams in multiple locations (Bristol PA, San Diego CA, Cambridge UK).
  • Engagement in significant scientific projects with direct client impact.
Full Job Description
The Bioconjugation Development Associate Principal Scientist is responsible for helping drive bioconjugation efforts in discovery and process development to support Abzena Bristol's scientific and manufacturing operations. This includes conjugation screening, conjugation reaction optimization, downstream purification development and scale-up activities; mentorship, training and potential management of direct reports; take lead on projects and client-facing meetings and updates; support sales and proposals process by providing technical and SME support including the design and costing of project activities as needed.

Responsibilities

  • Drive and support technical execution of R&D bioconjugation activities and successfully deliver client and internal company projects from initial assignment to completion.


  • Hands-on execution of chromatographic purifications (affinity, hydrophobic interaction (HIC), and ion exchange chromatography (IEX)), membrane filtrations (normal and tangential flow filtrations (TFF)), buffer and solution preparation, conjugation reaction work-up.


  • Perform, develop and optimize bioanalytical characterization (HPLC, UPLC, LC-MS, SEC-MALS, colorimetric assays, etc.) of conjugate products.


  • Leverage expertise to aid in the design and management of project plans and conjugation strategies with a focus on improving project completion times.


  • Serve independently as bioconjugation technical lead and subject-matter expert (SME) for internal and external project communications.


  • Training, mentorship, and management of assigned reports.


  • Monitor and assess direct report(s) performance through regular tracking of department based KPIs.


  • SME and technical support for sales and proposals teams, including client facing scoping calls, bid defenses and proposal generation.


  • Help lead technical transfer of bioconjugation processes to Abzena's bioconjugation manufacturing group including training, risk assessment, gap assessments and batch record writing and review according to ICH and FDA guidelines.


  • Authoring and reviewing relevant documentation including laboratory notebooks, process development reports, protocols, batch records, SOPs, technical presentations.


  • Provide on-the-floor SME and technical support during complex manufacturing operations as needed.


  • Coordinate activities with QA/QC and Management for development of tox and GLP batches.


  • Maintain strong technical understanding of advancements in bioconjugation/bioprocessing through literature searches and review.


  • Participate in the hiring process by screening and interviewing candidates.


  • Operate to the highest ethical and moral standards.


  • Comply with Abzena's policies and procedures.


  • Communicate effectively with clients, supervisors, colleagues and staff.


  • Participate effectively as a team player in all aspects of Abzena's business.


  • Adhere to quality standards set by regulations and Abzena policies, procedures, and mission.


  • Perform other duties as assigned.


  • Contribute to assigned laboratory operations including instrument and equipment operations, material shipment preparation, consumables procurement.


Qualifications

  • A PhD in chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, chemical biology or similar with >7 years industry experience in biotherapeutic conjugate development or bioconjugation.


  • Demonstrated experience applying and optimizing state-of-the-art bioconjugation or bioorthogonal chemistry techniques to produce conjugates (ADCs, AOCs/ARCs, PDCs, DACs, etc.) at various scales (mg-gram scales)


  • Thorough, hands-on experience with small-scale and preparative chromatography systems (AKTA Pilot, AKTA Ready, AKTA Explorer, etc.) for purification of biomacromolecules (antibodies, fusion proteins, carrier proteins, viruses, viral vectors, or other biologics).


  • Expertise in normal flow filtrations and tangential flow filtrations (TFF or UF/DF).


  • Knowledge of strategies for the optimization of bioprocesses and experimental design (DoE).


  • Expertise with quantitative determination of scalable process parameters for normal flow filtrations, tangential flow filtrations, and preparative chromatographic separations.


  • Knowledge of cGMP manufacturing operations and GxP principles.


  • Experience with protein bioanalytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS, CE-SDS, UV-spectrophotometry, etc.)


  • Experience with large scale bioprocess equipment (pallet tanks, pumps, biowelders, biosealers, bio-rockers, single-use assemblies).


  • Prior leadership experience required.


Travel between Abzena sites (Bristol PA, San Diego CA, Cambridge UK) as needed.

Physical Requirements

  • Ability to stand for 1-2 hours at a time, sit for 2 to 3 hours at a time.


  • Frequently lift and or move objects up to 30 pounds.


  • Stand/walk during entire length of shift.


  • Use arms, hands and fingers to handle, feel or reach.


  • Ability to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.


  • Visual abilities including near and far sight, color, peripheral vision, depth and ability to focus


FLSA: Exempt

About Abzena plc

Abzena is a life sciences group with headquarters in Cambridge, UK and offices in the US and Japan. The company provides technologies and complementary services to enable the development and manufacture of biopharmaceutical products. Abzena's services and technologies are used by a range of companies and academic organisations across the pharmaceutical industry, including small biotech to large pharmaceutical companies. The company's proprietary technologies include composite human antibodies and site-specific conjugation technologies, which enable the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and other biotherapeutics. Abzena's services include antibody discovery and engineering, immunology services, bioassays, cell line development, and biomanufacturing. The company has a range of partnerships and collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, and has a number of products in clinical development.
Learn more about Abzena plc
Size
200 employees
Industry
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
Founded
2014
Revenue
$17 million
NASDAQ
ABZA
* Ladders Estimates

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