Sr. Engineer, Process Development

Over one million people in the world today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many patients, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft versus host disease.

Orca Bio's investigational, high-precision cell therapies are designed to replace a patient's compromised blood and immune system with a healthy one, while dramatically lowering the risk of developing life-threatening or debilitating transplant-related side-effects. The first application of Orca Bio’s platform is in blood cancer where the unmet need is most acute; with a robust pipeline of promising cell therapies, we plan to extend into autoimmune diseases and genetic blood disorders as well.

Summary:

The Sr. Engineer/Scientist in Process Development, CMC will focus on commercialization and post-commercial process optimization of allogeneic cell therapy manufacturing processes. You will contribute to technology transfer into GMP manufacturing, evaluation of replacement and novel raw materials, BLA content generation, scale-up/scale-out, and process/operational optimization to advance Orca’s clinical pipeline into commercialization. This role is expected to closely collaborate with multiple teams across Process Development, MSAT, Analytical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Quality and Manufacturing.

Responsibilities:

 · Play a lead role for core activities during technology transfer of processes into GMP clinical and commercial manufacturing, including on-floor support as Person-In-Plant and authoring and reviewing of technical documents

· Author and review plans, protocols, technical reports and CMC sections of regulatory submissions

· Review and support continuous improvements of manufacturing procedures for pre-commercial and post-commercial lifecycle management of the manufacturing process

· Lead projects to optimize and implement process improvements related to closed and single-use cell therapy manufacture

· Coordinate implementation of process improvements and new process technology into clinical and commercial GMP facilities

· Collaborate with external vendors and internal engineering teams to design and implement novel automation and closed processing technologies for cell therapy production

· Contribute to process characterization and process validation work packages to progress the CMC development of Orca’s clinical pipeline

· Participate in investigations and troubleshooting of both manufacturing issues and lab studies

Qualifications:

· PhD, MSc in Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, or related field; candidates with Master’s or Bachelor’s degree will be considered with additional experience

· 3-7 years of experience (depending on education) in process sciences or manufacturing

· Experience with commercial biologic (e.g., antibody, recombinant protein) processes; cell/gene therapy experience preferred

· Experience with aseptic techniques and closed manufacturing systems

· Experience with late-stage process development, including process characterization and/or process validation preferred

· Experience with regulatory (e.g., IND, BLA) authoring

· Experience with quality risk management (i.e., risk assessments)

· Ability to travel to Sacramento occasionally (10 – 20%)

Additional Attributes:

· Demonstrated organizational, record-keeping, and problem-solving skills, with an attention to detail

· Strong interpersonal skills including verbal and written communication

· Demonstrated success working independently as well as in a team environment

· Ability to act with urgency and agility to bring lifesaving therapies to patients

· Intense curiosity and a propensity to break with the status quo

Who we are

We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all patients who need them.

We strive to do things right, and to embody our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the potential to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.

We innovate daily on a path that hasn’t been paved. This means we lean heavily on our entrepreneurial spirit and are comfortable taking calculated risks to achieve progress toward our mission. It means we aren’t afraid to ask “why not,” and encourage lively discourse around rethinking the status quo.

We work hard to preserve our start-up culture rooted in camaraderie and leadership by example - by everyone, regardless of title.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and have seen how our differences - when celebrated and woven together - create stronger and more lasting solutions that better serve our team, our partners, and most importantly, our patients and the providers who treat them.

Notice to staffing firms

Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent department, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes.