Associate II/Senior Associate Engineer, Upstream Process Development

Associate II/Senior Associate Engineer, Upstream Process Development

Dragonfly Therapeutics seeks a cell culture engineer/scientist who brings enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity, scientific rigor and a desire to help drive novel cancer immunotherapy programs. The candidate must be independent, goal-oriented, flexible, and able to work efficiently across multiple projects. We are searching for an enthusiastic, and innovative individual who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.  The successful candidate will contribute and drive our cell culture process development, while interacting regularly with other CMC functions. 

Responsibilities:

• Assist in the design, development, and optimization of cell culture processes for DF therapeutic proteins
• Perform and document experiments at bench scale (e.g., shake flasks, scale-down bioreactors, etc) and pilot scale (200L) to support development of efficient, robust mammalian cell culture processes for recombinant bispecific antibody and novel molecular format production
• Ensure effective, high-quality, timely and appropriate documentation in electronic laboratory notebooks. Author technical reports and provide project updates via oral presentations
• Effectively maintain good communication and collaborate with cross-functional colleagues and external partners for successful execution/completion of projects
• Review, collect and trend data from manufacturing batches to help identify trends, assess performance, build process understanding, and enable improvement activities
• Assist in technology transfer of processes to external manufacturers
• Assist in review of manufacturing batch records, both master and executed
• Conduct routine small scale purification and subsequent PQ analysis of upstream in process samples
• Ensure operational effectiveness of cell culture equipment through basic maintenance and calibration
• Undertake technology development activities, including assessment of new cell culture equipment and automation opportunities for workflows and processes

Qualifications:

• BS degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biochemistry or related fields, with 2-5 years relevant industry experience
• Knowledge of mammalian cell culture process development and familiarity with harvest operations, downstream processing, analytical characterization of proteins, and CMC program development
• Deep experience with aseptic operations, bioreactor operations at both bench scale and manufacturing scale
• Experience with automated liquid handler systems and ambr250 bioreactor systems preferred
• Working knowledge of cGMP and quality systems, including deviations, CAPA, chance control etc.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, meet deadlines, and balance multiple priorities.
• Independently motivated, detail-oriented, with a “can-do” attitude
• Up to 10% business travel and occasional weekend work