Scientist III (Oligonucleotides)

Title: Oligonucleotide / Peptide Purification Development

Location: Cambridge, MA

Pay: $48.00-$55.00/hr

Schedule: Standard Office Hours

Duration: 6-Month Initial Contract




We are seeking a highly motivated and creative scientist or engineer with process development experience to join an Oligonucleotide / Peptide Purification Development team. This position offers the opportunity to develop robust, high-purity purification processes for oligonucleotide and peptide therapeutics and gain hands-on exposure to the design, development, scale-up, and transfer of manufacturing processes supporting clinical and commercial programs.

The successful candidate will contribute to the development of novel purification technologies and processes, working across laboratory, pilot-scale, and manufacturing environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and characterize purification processes for oligonucleotide and peptide therapeutics, including process development, process characterization, robustness studies, and scale-up.
• Support purification unit operations including chromatography, detritylation, and ultrafiltration/diafiltration (UF/DF).
• Utilize multiple chromatography modes and support or learn additional processing steps including chemical cleavage, conjugation, and hybridization.
• Investigate novel purification technologies and approaches designed to improve purity, process robustness, and productivity.
• Support early- and late-stage process characterization and robustness studies.
• Scale up and transfer oligonucleotide purification processes into pilot-scale and GMP manufacturing facilities.
• Contribute to technology transfer activities, manufacturing documentation review, troubleshooting, and on-the-manufacturing-floor support.
• Support root cause investigations and process evaluations, working independently where appropriate with guidance from the supervisor.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams supporting synthesis, drug product, analytical development, research, manufacturing, project management, and technology transfer.
• Document laboratory and development activities through development reports and other technical documentation.
• Lead or support pilot-scale activities and small, focused technical initiatives.
• Provide training and mentoring to new employees as appropriate.
• Participate in the preparation and authoring of CMC/regulatory sections for IND submissions.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience successfully planning and executing scientific projects and experiments.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with the purification of proteins, peptides, and/or DNA/RNA.
• Experience using column chromatography, such as:
  • Ion exchange chromatography
  • Hydrophobic interaction chromatography
  • Reversed-phase chromatography
• Experience with ultrafiltration/diafiltration (UF/DF).
• Hands-on experience analyzing proteins, peptides, and/or DNA/RNA, preferably using HPLC and UV/Vis spectroscopy.
• Demonstrated technical proficiency and creativity in developing or evaluating purification technologies and approaches.
• Strong organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and within cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with ÄKTA purification systems and UNICORN software.
• Experience with Design of Experiments (DoE).
• Experience with statistical analysis.
• Experience with process scale-up, technology transfer, or GMP manufacturing environments is beneficial.

Education & Experience

Associate Scientist 3 / Engineer 2

• Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related life science field with 2–4 years of industry experience; or
• Master’s degree in a related field with 0–2 years of industry experience.

Senior Associate Scientist

• Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related life science field with 4+ years of industry experience; or
• Master’s degree in a related field with 2+ years of industry experience.

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