Sr. Associate Scientist, Protein Analytical Development

Company Profile:

Vaxcyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCVX) is a vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases. The Company is developing broad-spectrum conjugate and novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent, broad-spectrum, carrier-sparing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) being developed for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). The Company is re-engineering the way highly complex immunizations are made through modern synthetic techniques, including advanced chemistry and our exclusively licensed XpressCFTM cell-free protein synthesis platform. Unlike conventional cell-based approaches, the Company’s system for producing difficult-to-make proteins and antigens is intended to accelerate its ability to efficiently create and deliver high-fidelity vaccines with enhanced immunological benefits. Vaxcyte’s pipeline also includes VAX-31, a 31-valent PCV candidate; VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections; VAX-PG, a therapeutic vaccine candidate designed to slow or stop the progression of periodontal disease; and VAX-GI, a vaccine program designed to prevent Shigella. The Company is driven to eradicate or treat invasive bacterial infections, which have serious and costly health consequences when left unchecked. For more information, visit www.vaxcyte.com.

Vaxcyte, headquartered in San Carlos, CA, went public in June 2020 and currently has a team of approximately 180 employees and anticipates continued, significant growth. Following equity offerings in October 2022 and April 2023, which generated over $1.1 billion in net proceeds, the Company’s balance sheet is further strengthened to advance its pipeline of novel vaccines, including VAX-24. These financings followed positive data readouts from Vaxcyte’s Phase 1/2 proof-of-concept study evaluating VAX-24 in adults aged 18-64 and Phase 2 study in adults 65 and older. The Company believes these results support a best-in-class potential for VAX-24, which was designed to replace the current standard-of-care in adults and children. VAX-24 is being investigated for the prevention of IPD, which can be most serious for infants, young children, older adults and those with immune deficiencies or certain chronic health conditions. Given the global impact of pneumococcal disease remains significant, the public health community continues to advocate for vaccines that can offer broader protection to prevent IPD. Vaxcyte’s PCV franchise, consisting of VAX-24 and VAX-31, is designed specifically to address this need and has the potential to deliver the broadest protection for this very serious disease. We believe that our PCVs could receive regulatory approval based on successful completion of clinical studies utilizing well-defined surrogate immune endpoints, consistent with how other PCVs have obtained regulatory approval in the past, rather than requiring clinical field efficacy studies.

Summary:

Vaxcyte is looking for a highly skilled, motivated, and talented analytical scientist to join Vaxcyte’s Vaccine Product Development organization as Senior Associate Scientist within Protein Development and Clinical Manufacturing.

The Senior Associate Scientist will assume an important role of development and executing the key analytical methods to support the measurement of titer, impurities and product quality for in-process intermediates. The successful candidate will support the setup of analytical capabilities within protein process development group, perform the method qualification of in process analytical methods and apply the methods for process characterizations.

This position is for a scientific role which will be mostly lab based, this role will require excellent scientific judgment, independence, precise and consistent data generation and thorough record keeping. 

Essential Functions:

• Assist in setting up instrument capabilities to enable the analytical methods development and qualification for protein process characterization.
• Perform protein analysis using HPLC (size exclusion, ion exchange, reversed phase, etc.), CE-SDS, PicoGreen, Capillary Western(Jess), A280, mass spectrometry, etc.
• Acquire and interpret data for protein titer, molecule characterization for protein process development studies with precision and accuracy.
• Maintain good documentation practices for recording experimental plans and results in electronic lab notebook and associated reports. 
• Assist in troubleshooting of instrumentation and test methods. 
• Able to work well independently and in a team setting on assigned tasks, such as method development and sample testing. 
• Participate in group meetings, present results of work, interpret data, and report results in an accurate manner.
• Work with lab automation to create high throughput methods leveraging liquid handling and robotic technologies.
• Work in collaboration with other scientists/SME to design experiments and advance more powerful analytical techniques.

Requirements:

• B.S in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related field with 8+ years relevant industry experience; MS with 5 years + industry experience in Pharma/ Biotech industry required.
• Strong technical understanding in analytical chemistry. Hands on proficiency and with protein analysis using HPLC, CE-SDS, Western blotting, Spectroscopy, etc.
• Perform accurate and reliable data analysis and interpretation of experimental results related to process characterization.
• Ability to think critically and demonstrate troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
• Maintain accurate records of experimental procedures, results and conclusion in compliance with regulatory guidelines.
• Team player, proactive and willing to work in a collaborative team environment.
• Scientific creativity and curiosity for applying new technologies to complex analytical challenges.
• All Vaxcyte employees require vaccination against COVID-19.

Reports to: Staff Scientist, Downstream Development for Protein Development and

Manufacturing

Location: San Carlos, CA

Compensation:

The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component.

Salary Range: $111,000 – $126,000

Send resumes to:

[email protected]

Vaxcyte, Inc.

825 Industrial Road, Suite 300

San Carlos, CA 94070

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.