Associate Principal Scientist , RNA Synthesis

Granta Park, United Kingdom

Competitive Salary and Benefits

Closing Date: Monday 17th October 2022

Build a long-term career by unlocking opportunities for lifelong learning

Build unrivalled capabilities in a place that promotes learning agility and offers development opportunities. We never stand still so you’ll have the chance to constantly grow your abilities, skills and knowledge. Here we are a fusion of challenging and interesting work, in an energising and inspiring environment.

Who we are

We are free – free from fear of failure, free to ask the right questions, make bold decisions, and dig deep into the biology of complex disease. And we take inspiration from within our BioPharmaceutical heritage, as well as beyond, exploring what we can take and apply.

What we do

A dedicated BioPharmaceuticals Research & Development organisation, we accelerate promising early-stage assets and lifecycle management programmes. From discovery to late-stage development, we always follow the science.

How we do it

We are always listening and learning from people who live with the diseases our medicines treat. It enables us to better understand their needs and, ultimately, diagnose and design the right treatments to impact patients’ lives.

Why we love it

Here we truly understand science and apply it every day to strengthen and grow our pipeline.

What you’ll do

Cell Culture & Fermentation Sciences team, are a team who together are responsible for generating recombinant proteins and novel drug modalities to support internal projects at all stages of Drug Discovery. Our team is also responsible for the development of exciting new technologies around mRNA/saRNA, viral vectors and rapid protein expression.

You will play a key and leading role in the further development and improvement of the latest technologies around the production of novel drug modalities like mRNA and saRNA. There will also be opportunities to contribute to other activities as the rapid protein expression and scale-up of recombinant proteins using in-house protein expression technologies as well as other novel drug modalities like AAV/viral vectors.

Other responsibilities will include:

• Key contributor and play a leading role in the design establishment of a high yielding and high quality scalable mRNA and saRNA production process

• Drive the development of robust and scalable in vitro transcription process using DoE principles

• Hands-on contribution to drug design, screening, optimisation, and scale-up efforts for mRNA/saRNA synthesis

• Hands-on contribution to generation of high quality preclinical grade mRNA/saRNA material

• Leading and contribution to technology development activities around the production of novel drug modalities including new generation RNA synthesis processes

• Supporting laboratory activities within Cell Culture and Fermentation Sciences including rapid recombinant protein production using transient expression systems and contribution to general laboratory troubleshooting

• Maintain high quality documentation of results in electronic lab notebooks and draft protocols as required. Generate clear and appropriate reports according to project requirements. Ensure work is performed in accordance with appropriate Safety, Health & Environment (SHE), quality and compliance standards, e.g. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)

Essential criteria

• Biopharmaceutical process development including mRNA/saRNA synthesis

• Optimising in vitro transcription and RNA production technologies.

• Molecular/cell biology techniques such as PCR, plasmid production/processing, DNA template design, DNA sequencing data analysis and alignment

• Bioreactor process scale up and scale down models for nucleic acid synthesis

• Knowledge of enzyme kinetics and standard analytical techniques for macromolecules

Desirable Criteria

• Mammalian cell culture and recombinant protein expression from mammalian cells in an industrial and/or academic environment

• Experience in using transient expression platforms for rapid recombinant protein expression

• Experience in stable expression systems

• Experience working with bioreactor systems for mammalian cell culture

Why AstraZeneca

At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration. Always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development.

So, what’s next?

Complete your application before the below closing date.

This role is open from Wednesday 12th October 2022 and we welcome your application no later than Monday 17th October 2022.

Date Posted

Closing Date

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.