Senior Scientist - Vector Biolabs : Job Details

The Opportunity

Fortis Life Sciences, backed by leading global growth investor Summit Partners, is a strategic platform providing capital, expertise, and operational resources enabling the growth and success of founder-led life sciences tools companies. Fortis was founded in 2020 with the vision of creating a life sciences company for top-quality products supported by a superior customer experience. Fortis' mission is to create a healthier world tomorrow by supporting today's scientific advancement.

Vector Biolabs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Life Sciences, located in Malvern, PA specializes in custom production of AAV and adenoviral vectors for gene delivery, and will now be offering Lentivirus (LV). You'll be working in a fast-growing and rewarding organization where employees are driven by their passion to learn and make a difference in the world.

The Senior Scientist - Lentivirus will contribute to the execution of Vector's Lentivirus processes, with establishment of core processes and analytical testing to support vector manufacturing. The ideal candidate must be detail-oriented, highly motivated, process oriented, willing to develop new processes where they do not exist and be customer facing.

What You Will Do

• Develop new analytical procedures and adoption of new tools and methods tailored to the analysis of quality and performance of LV components and finished products; and use judgement in their adoption as standard procedures.
• Analyze experimental results and formulate conclusions for presentation to key stakeholders.
• Act as subject matter expert in troubleshooting both the upstream and downstream processes and drive improvement as needed.
• Work directly with customers to provide support for lentiviral vector designs and solutions.
• Prepare SOPs, technical reports, summaries, protocols, and quantitative analyses for all experimental results.
• Collaborate with external partners to ensure timely delivery of viral vectors to support internal and external stakeholder's process.
• Perform other tasks as assigned by management, which may not be listed above, that are necessary to accomplish our goal of improving lives by supporting scientific discovery.

Who You Are & What You Bring

Education / Background

• A PhD or Master's degree in molecular biology, virology, biochemistry, or related discipline required.
• Extensive expertise (at least 5 years) in LV vector design and/or expression construct engineering, viral production, purification, and characterization in a biotechnology setting.
• Experience with Lentivirus laboratory scale production is required.
• Experience with mammalian cell culture, general cellular and molecular biology laboratory techniques.

Experience

• The ideal candidate will have broad hands-on expertise in Lentivirus production covering both upstream and downstream processes.
• Demonstrated expertise in working with commonly used viral production systems, such as adhesive and suspension HEK293 cells and in transfection parameter optimization.
• Extensive knowledge of LWV vector design and development and the ability to troubleshoot is necessary.
• Extensive experience of downstream processes including ultracentrifugation (sucrose and iodixanol), affinity and ion exchange chromatography, Tangential flow filtration (TFF) and size -exclusion chromatography
• Extensive experience in LV related analytical methods, such as qPCR, dPCR, DLS, TEM, and PAGE/ agarose gel electrophoresis, western blotting, Flow cytometry, ELISA, infectivity, and sterility/endotoxin assays are necessary.
• Industry experience and working in a manufacturing setting is desirable.
• Hands on experience with bioreactor and media optimization is preferred.
• An extensive working knowledge of GLP is necessary, and it is preferable to have experience in GMP.
• Previous management experience is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Knowledge and familiarity with state-of-the art research tools, such as shRNA and microRNA are preferred.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with colleagues, key stakeholders and customers.
• Ability to work collaboratively and drive to results.
• Proficient with MS Office applications.

What We Offer

We have an incredibly talented group of intelligent, down-to-earth individuals who are committed to developing and manufacturing only the highest quality products. Our mission: “Pursuing a Healthier World by Creating Tomorrow's Science Today” is complemented by our core values (EXCITE):

Excellence – We believe in solving for root cause. No shortcuts, no “band-aids”

Customer First – We prioritize the experience and outcomes of our customers above all.

Integrity – We are honest and accountable, holding ourselves to a high standard of ethical conduct.

Trust – We believe an engaged, empowered team begins with a foundation of trust. We trust our team members to make the right decisions and to be driven by and evaluated on results.

Entrepreneurship – We encourage smart risk taking. We value novel mistakes in the pursuit of innovation.

Fortis provides a competitive salary, success-sharing bonus plan, medical, dental, disability and life insurance, and a 401(k) plan. We are an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are an E-Verify Employer in the United States.