Sr. Scientist, Preclinical Dev.

Job Description

Applications are sought for an opportunity in the Vaccine Process Development (VPD) department, which is part of our Company's Research Labs division. The individual will support our Company's discovery & development efforts for Vaccine programs at West Point, PA. 

 

Role Summary:

Vaccines and Advanced Biotechnologies Process R&D (VaxPRD) is responsible for the development and clinical manufacturing of Drug Substance (DS) and Drug Product Intermediates (DPI) for the vaccine and advanced therapy pipeline, spanning from preclinical to commercialization stages. We are part of the Process R&D organization, which enables modality-agnostic DS/DP process development and clinical manufacturing for our company's pipeline. Our vaccines upstream process development team develops safe, scalable, robust, cost-effective upstream processes that enable clinical and commercial manufacture of vaccines and adjuvants across all vaccine modalities. 

The successful candidate is expected to work with other upstream scientists and engineers, typically focusing on one to two vaccine programs at a time, while also supporting the overall program management and governance activities across larger multi-functional and cross-divisional teams.   The candidate must have the ability to work independently and as part of a team, self-motivation, adaptability, and a positive attitude.  Drive collaborative engagement with partner organizations such as purification, analytical, PAT, manufacturing, and regulatory. The candidate must have the ability to learn new techniques, to balance multiple projects, to keep accurate records, to follow instructions, and to comply with company policies.  The successful candidate will possess proven ability to work in a hands-on laboratory setting and excellent organization, interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.   

• Independently design, execute, and analyze process development experiments to maximize understanding of cell culture and fermentation processes to enable robust vaccine manufacturing.

• Conduct laboratory bench work to execute, optimize, and troubleshoot cell culture and fermentation processes (e.g., shake flasks, bench scale and pilot scale bioreactors).

• Apply data analysis and basic data science/modeling approaches (e.g., statistics, design of experiments) to design experiments, interpret datasets, and support process understanding and optimization.

• Contribute to the development and scale‑up of upstream processes from lab scale to pilot scale and support technology transfer to manufacturing scale.

• Perform upstream unit operations as needed, including lab scale cell culture, fermentation, centrifugation, filtration, and in-process assays.

• Prepare clear technical reports and presentations to summarize and communicate experimental results and recommendations in a collaborative team environment, including contributing to regulatory documentation and filings.

• Supervise/mentor and provide technical guidance to contract staff or new hires in laboratory techniques and best practices, as appropriate.

• Serve as workstream lead focused upon development of process operations or advancing upstream technologies and/or control strategies.

• Keep accurate, detailed laboratory records; comply with all required training and maintain a strong focus on laboratory/facility safety for self and team members.

• Contribute to the development of new principles, concepts, and methods to enable process development, scale-up of processes to pilot scale, and technology transfer to manufacturing scale

• Develop and apply advanced process characterization tools/analytics (e.g., PAT, Systems Biology) toward developing, improving, and understanding upstream bioprocesses.

• Independently design, execute, and analyze process development experiments to maximize understanding of cell culture and fermentation processes to make vaccine products.

• Analyze, summarize, and present experimental results in a collaborative team environment.

• Interface with multidisciplinary groups and coordinate multiple program activities with Process R&D, Analytical R&D, Vaccine Basic Research, Commercialization,  and various functional groups.

Education Minimum Requirement: 

Must have a BS or MS or PhD in relevant field:

• Engineering: Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering  

• Science and Technology: Cell Biology, Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, or Biochemistry

Required Experience and Skills:

• For BS, at least six (6) years of experience in bioprocess/biotechnology-related position (vaccines and/or therapeutic proteins)

• For MS, at least five (5) years of experience in bioprocess/biotechnology-related position (vaccines and/or therapeutic proteins)

• Must have strong scientific understanding of fermentation and/or cell culture processes.

• Prior experience in optimizing recombinant protein expression (quality and quantity of product).

• Prior experience with fermentation bioprocesses (E. coli, Yeast) or mammalian systems (CHO, HEK293, etc.)

• Sound understanding of process scale-up principles across scales from high-throughput, lab, pilot, and commercial.

• Must have experience with hands-on bioprocess development preferably across multiple organisms/expression systems.

• Excellent scientific understanding of cell biology for vaccine production including cell metabolism and molecular biology

• Demonstrated proficiency in bench scale bioreactor, shake flask, or other cell propagation systems for the optimization of cell culture or fermentation processes

• Position requires employee to be willing to work with infectious agents and/or pathogens.

• Position requires occasional travel and off-hour/weekend work.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Prior experience with the application of PAT for monitoring upstream bioprocesses

• Prior experience with the application systems biology approaches (e.g., “-omics”) to increase process understanding and/or solve upstream bioprocess challenges

• Ability to interface with discovery colleagues to influence pre-clinical development (expression system selection, protein engineering, etc.).

• Experience with data science and modeling tools (e.g., statistics, design of experiments, and/or coding/scripting such as Python or similar tools for data analysis and modeling).

• Demonstrated experience/training with project management, enabling process development efforts.

#PRD

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Animal Vaccination, Biodesign, Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, Bioprocessing, Cell Cultures, Chemical Engineering, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Data Analysis, Drug Delivery Technology, Flow Cytometry, Following Instructions, High-Throughput Screening, Innovative Thinking, Interpersonal Relationships, Mammalian Cell Culture, Microbiology, Molecular Biology Techniques, Multi-Color Flow Cytometry, Preformulation, Process Optimization, Production Process Development, Project Management {+ 2 more}

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.  As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.  For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits.  Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

Yes

Job Posting End Date:

06/2/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.