Principal Scientist, Upstream Process Development Lead

Pfizer seeks a scientific and people leader for upstream process development in vaccine manufacturing. The role spans mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation platforms, requiring expertise in bioprocess design, scale-up, and technology transfer for recombinant protein production.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific and people leadership for upstream process development across mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation platforms
• Lead design, execution, and communication of complex studies to improve cell growth, protein expression, and product quality using DOE and modeling
• Direct evaluation and optimization of production hosts, inoculum strategies, culture media, and bioreactor operating parameters
• Lead scale-up and technology-transfer activities with cross-functional collaboration and clear documentation of process decisions and recommendations
• Evaluate and implement new upstream technologies; maintain current knowledge through scientific literature and technical forums

Requirements

• PhD in biochemical/chemical engineering, microbiology, cell biology, or related field with 5+ years relevant experience; or MS/BS with 10+ years
• Deep hands-on expertise in mammalian cell culture or microbial fermentation using automated and conventional bioreactor systems
• Demonstrated experience developing and optimizing bench-scale bioreactor processes including media optimization and seed-train development
• Proven application of Design of Experiments, statistical analysis, mechanistic modeling, and data-driven decision making
• Experience with recombinant protein or vaccine-antigen expression and assessment of upstream impact on product yield and quality
• Demonstrated scientific and team leadership with ability to manage priorities and communicate complex technical conclusions
• Understanding of scale-up principles and development of robust processes suitable for GMP manufacturing