Senior Manager, Biophysics, Higher-Order Structure & Separations

Job Function:
Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function:
Pharmaceutical Product R&D

Job Category:
Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:
Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description:

We are searching for the best talent for Senior Manager, Biophysics, Higher-Order Structure & Separations.

Purpose: We are seeking an experienced scientific leader to build and lead our Biophysics, Higher-Order Structure & Separations team within Cell Engineering and Analytical Sciences (CEAS).

This is a unique opportunity to create and advance a scientific capability that directly impacts how biologic drug candidates progress from late Discovery through Cell Line Development and into process and product development. Working at the intersection of molecular characterization, cell line development, analytical sciences, and manufacturing, this team will generate the insights needed to understand how molecular properties influence development success.

As biologic modalities become increasingly complex, successful development requires more than characterization alone. It requires a mechanistic understanding of how molecular structure, stability, heterogeneity, and intermolecular interactions influence expression, product quality, process robustness, and manufacturability.

As the leader of this organization, you will build and guide a team of scientists responsible for answering these critical questions and translating scientific understanding into improved development outcomes across a diverse biologics portfolio.

Why This Role Matters

The next generation of biologic therapeutics will require deeper understanding of how molecular properties translate into successful development and manufacturing outcomes.

This role offers a unique opportunity to build a scientific organization that bridges molecular characterization and biologics development. By combining biophysical sciences, higher-order structure characterization, separation sciences, and complementary mass spectrometry approaches, this team will help transform molecular understanding into actionable development strategies.

The successful candidate will shape a capability that not only characterizes molecules, but helps explain why they behave the way they do throughout development, informs solutions to complex technical challenges, and ultimately improves the probability of delivering successful therapies to patients.

The Opportunity

The Biophysics, Higher-Order Structure & Separations team will work in close partnership with Mass Spectrometry, Cell Line Development, Discovery, Protein Engineering, Process Development, and Analytical Sciences to provide a comprehensive understanding of therapeutic proteins from sequence through higher-order structure and molecular behavior.

Unlike traditional developability organizations focused on candidate selection, this team's mission is to support molecules that are actively advancing through development by generating the molecular insights needed to maximize the probability of technical and manufacturing success.

The successful candidate will establish a scientific capability that helps explain:

• Why certain molecules express more effectively during cell line development
• How molecular structure and stability influence product quality outcomes
• Which molecular properties drive aggregation, heterogeneity, or process challenges
• How higher-order structure and solution behavior impact manufacturability
• What risks can be identified and mitigated early to improve development success

The team's scientific contributions will directly influence cell line development strategies, process development decisions, product quality understanding, and overall manufacturing readiness.

You will be responsible for:
Establish Scientific Vision and Strategy

• Define and execute the scientific strategy for biophysics, higher-order structure characterization, and separation sciences within CEAS.
• Build a world-class capability focused on understanding the relationship between molecular properties and development outcomes.
• Serve as a scientific leader and trusted partner across Discovery, Cell Line Development, Process Development, and Analytical Sciences organizations.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies that enhance molecular understanding and accelerate decision-making.

Enable Cell Line Development and Manufacturing Success

• Partner closely with Cell Line Development teams to understand how molecular characteristics influence expression, clone selection, product quality, and overall development performance.
• Apply biophysical characterization approaches to identify molecule-specific liabilities and opportunities early in development.
• Generate mechanistic insights that inform risk mitigation strategies and improve likelihood of successful scale-up and manufacturing.
• Help establish characterization frameworks that connect molecular structure and behavior with development and manufacturing outcomes.
• Support scientific investigations that explain differences in development performance across multiple candidate molecules advancing within the same program.

Advance Higher-Order Structure and Biophysical Sciences

• Build and expand capabilities for higher-order structure characterization, conformational analysis, protein stability assessment, and aggregation investigations.
• Develop orthogonal analytical approaches that provide complementary information to structural and analytical mass spectrometry.
• Apply advanced spectroscopic, calorimetric, hydrodynamic, and separation-based techniques to understand molecular behavior.
• Establish deep scientific understanding of structure-function relationships and their impact on development and manufacturing.

Lead Molecular Characterization Efforts

• Advance protein separations and biophysical characterization capabilities supporting a broad range of biologic modalities.
• Characterize molecular heterogeneity, aggregation, fragmentation, charge variants, and other critical quality attributes.
• Integrate data across biophysics, separation sciences, and mass spectrometry to provide comprehensive assessments of molecule behavior and risk.
• Deliver high-quality scientific recommendations that support project teams and portfolio decisions.

Build and Develop a High-Performing Organization

• Recruit, mentor, and develop exceptional scientists.
• Create a culture centered on scientific rigor, curiosity, innovation, collaboration, and operational excellence.
• Develop organizational capabilities aligned with future portfolio and technology needs.
• Foster technical growth and establish the team as a recognized center of excellence in molecular characterization.

Qualifications / Requirements:
Required

• Ph.D. in Biophysics, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Structural Biology, Bioengineering, Biotechnology, or a related scientific discipline.
• 6+ years experience in biologics discovery, development, analytical sciences, or related biopharmaceutical functions.
• Demonstrated scientific and people leadership experience.
• Deep expertise in protein biophysics, molecular characterization, and therapeutic protein analysis.
• Strong understanding of higher-order structure, protein stability, aggregation mechanisms, and molecular characterization strategies.
• Experience applying scientific insights to influence development decisions and resolve complex technical challenges.
• Proven ability to lead highly collaborative, multidisciplinary scientific teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred

Experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Higher-order structure characterization
• Circular dichroism (CD)
• FTIR spectroscopy
• Fluorescence spectroscopy
• Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
• Differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF)
• Dynamic, static, or multi-angle light scattering (DLS/SLS/MALS)
• Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC)
• Hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS)
• Advanced protein separation sciences
• Protein aggregation and stability assessments
• Molecular characterization of monoclonal antibodies, multispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, or other advanced biologic modalities
• Computational structural biology, molecular modeling, or AI-enabled characterization approaches

#LI-Onsite

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:
Budget Management, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control (CMC), Clinical Trial Protocols, Drug Discovery Development, Industry Analysis, Interdisciplinary Work, Market Research, Pharmacokinetic Modeling, Process Improvements, Product Development, Product Licensing, Product Strategies, Risk Management, Scientific Research, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Tactical Planning, Technical Credibility