PhD or BS/MS in biochemical sciences or bio-engineering with relevant industry experience (1+ years with PhD, 3+ years with MS/BS).
Experience in preparative purification of biological molecules such as antibodies and viral vectors.
Expertise in normal and tangential flow filtrations (TFF, UF/DF).
Knowledge of bioprocess optimization strategies and experimental design (DoE).
Hands-on experience with preparative chromatography systems (e.g., AKTA Pilot, AKTA Ready).
Strong understanding of cGMP manufacturing operations and GxP principles.
Familiarity with protein bioanalytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS).
Responsibilities
Lead bioconjugation downstream process development activities.
Ensure compliance with ethical standards and company policies.
Communicate effectively with clients and team members.
Collaborate in the development and optimization of bioconjugation reactions.
Execute chromatographic purifications and membrane filtrations hands-on.
Develop and optimize bioanalytical characterization of bioconjugate products.
Author and review documentation related to process development.
Benefits
Opportunity to work on cutting-edge bioconjugation technologies.
Collaborative work environment with a focus on team success.
Access to advanced laboratory equipment and resources.
Professional development opportunities in biotherapeutic manufacturing.
Full Job Description
The Bioconjugation Process Development Senior Scientist is responsible for leading bioconjugation downstream process development activities to support Abzena Bristol's development and manufacturing operations.
Responsibilities
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.
Focus on developing downstream conjugation bioprocesses to manufacture conjugated biotherapeutics including antibody-drug conjugates, conjugate vaccines, protein-oligonucleotide conjugates, peptide-protein conjugates, chelator-antibody conjugates, etc.
Work collaboratively in the development, optimization, and scale-up of bioconjugation reactions, purification steps, and characterization approaches for conjugate biotherapies.
Hands-on execution of chromatographic purifications (affinity, hydrophobic interaction, and ion exchange chromatography), membrane filtrations (normal and tangential flow filtrations), buffer and solution preparation, conjugation reaction work-up.
Perform, develop and optimize bioanalytical characterization (HPLC, UPLC, LC-MS, MALDI, MALS, colorimetric assays, etc.) of bioconjugate products.
Authoring and review of relevant documentation including laboratory notebooks, process development reports, protocols, batch records, SOPs, technical presentations.
Maintain strong technical understanding of advancements in bioconjugation/bioprocessing through literature searches and review.
Serve independently as bioconjugation PD technical lead and subject-matter expert for internal and external project communications.
Management and supervision of technical team line reports.
Qualifications
A PhD or BS/MS degree in biochemical sciences or bio-engineering with industry experience (>1 year + PhD, >3 years + MS/BS) in biotherapeutic development or bioconjugation.
Experience in preparative purification of biological molecules (antibodies, carrier proteins, viruses, viral vectors, or other biological molecules).
Expertise in normal flow filtrations and tangential flow filtrations (TFF, UF/DF).
Knowledge of strategies for the optimization of bioprocesses and experimental design (DoE).
Thorough hands-on experience with preparative chromatography systems (AKTA Pilot, AKTA Ready, AKTA Explorer, etc.), and manual or automated TFF skids.
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.
Strong knowledge of bioconjugation reactions, techniques and approaches.
Experience with protein bioanalytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS, UV-spectrophotometry, etc.)
Experience with large scale bioprocess equipment (pallet tanks, pumps, biowelders, biosealers, bio-rockers, single-use assemblies).
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.
