Scientist II - Molecular Analytics & NGS

UCB • Boston, MA

9h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Gene Therapy Vector Core group is seeking a Scientist II in Upstream Process Development and Bioprocess Analytics team to support genetic medicine projects and AAV gene therapy platform development. The candidate will work across functional teams and will be responsible for developing analytical methods including short- and long-read NGS, cell-based potency assays for AAV, and ddPCR assay development. Additional responsibilities include supporting routine testing for characterization of research grade materials and for guiding process development activities.

Requirements

• MS degree in Molecular Biology, or related field, with over 10 years of experience – OR – PhD or Post Doc with 2+ years of experience.
• 4+ years expertise in PCR based assay development and molecular characterization of AAVs or biomolecular characterization for gene therapies
• 4+ years of NGS (long and/or short read technology) development experience (genomic DNA, targeted amplicon, small RNA, and RNA-seq) to enable genomic and transcriptomic analyses for early drug discovery and drug substance analytics
• 4+ years of experience serving as a functional representative in multi-disciplinary drug discovery project teams

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field with direct AAV characterization experience supporting molecular analytics of AAV vectors
• 6+ years of experience in molecular analytical characterization of AAV vectors
• 6+ years of hands-on experience with NGS library preparation, Illumina and PacBio data acquisition and QC to support drug discovery activities
• At least 6 years of experience in drug discovery or development in a pre-clinical setting with a focus on molecular characterization, analytical method development, characterizing impurities and identifying biological complexities.
• Serve as the primary owner of developing, optimizing, and/or routinely conducting cell based potency assays to evaluate biological function and activity

Responsibilities

• Leading the development and execution of custom molecular assays including ddPCR and qPCR to support gene therapy analytics
• Optimizing and applying cutting-edge next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies to characterize impurities and assess heterogeneity in AAV drug products
• Utilizing strong biology foundations to help guide or run cell-based potency assays to evaluate biological function and activity
• Support gene therapy platform development through the application of evolving analytical methodologies and cross-team collaborations including capsid engineering
• Function independently and cross functionally across various UCB teams (data scientists, cell biologists, disease area experts, CMC professionals, etc.)
• Ability to manage priorities, engage/communicate in a multidisciplinary environment, and provide exemplary documentation of experimental work

Benefits

• We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected, and has equal opportunities to do their best work.
• At UCB, we’ve embraced a hybrid-first approach to work, bringing teams together in local hubs to foster collaborative curiosity. Unless explicitly stated in the description or precluded by the nature of the position, roles are hybrid with 40% of your time spent in the office.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level