Subject Matter Expert - Protein Based Therapy

Lonza•Walkersville, MD

9d•$144,000 - $244,000•Remote

About The Position

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) – Protein Based Therapy serves as the technical authority for Lonza’s bioprocessing portfolio, playing a critical role in enabling customer success and driving commercial growth. This role partners closely with Business Development, Account Management, and cross-functional teams to deliver deep scientific, product, and process expertise across the sales cycle. Acting as a trusted advisor to both customers and internal stakeholders, the SME helps translate complex technical challenges into scalable, compliant solutions that accelerate the development and commercialization of protein-based therapies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree or PhD preferred in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related life sciences discipline.
Extensive hands-on experience working with GMP-regulated products and environments.
Strong background in protein-based therapeutics, including development, scale-up, and commercialization.
Demonstrated experience in mammalian cell culture process development, including upstream and/or downstream processing.
Solid understanding of bioprocess development workflows, from early development through clinical and commercial manufacturing.
Proven experience supporting or leading technology transfer activities, including transfer of processes from development to manufacturing or between sites and external partners.
Ability to assess process robustness, scalability, and risk across different stages of the product lifecycle.
Expert technical mastery of bioprocessing tools, technologies, and applications relevant to protein expression, purification, and formulation.
Proven ability to translate complex technical and process-development concepts into clear, actionable commercial language.
Exceptional presentation and advanced technical training delivery skills for both technical and commercial audiences.
Ability to travel nationally and regionally up to 40–50% of the time to support sales activities, customer engagements, and training.

Responsibilities

Lead the technical strategy for complex sales opportunities in partnership with Account Managers and Business Development Managers to improve win rates and mitigate technical and regulatory risk.
Serve as the technical authority in customer engagements, including workshops, troubleshooting sessions, product demonstrations, and proof-of-concept projects.
Prioritize technical support activities based on revenue potential, strategic importance, and risk.
Deliver advanced technical and application training to internal sales teams, distributors, and key customers.
Coach and mentor commercial teams on technical positioning, application differentiation, and objection handling.
Investigate and resolve escalated technical and product performance issues using root-cause-driven, sustainable solutions.
Act as a trusted technical partner to strategic customers to support product adoption, expansion, and long-term success.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Product Management, R&D, Quality Assurance, Service, and Regulatory Affairs to ensure solutions are technically sound, compliant, and scalable.
Translate customer feedback, application needs, and competitive intelligence into structured insights for Product Management, R&D, and Marketing.
Support new product launches by shaping technical messaging, application positioning, and sales enablement materials.
Review and contribute to technical documentation, white papers, application notes, and competitive analyses.
Build and maintain relationships with key opinion leaders and regulatory authorities.
Present technical data, application concepts, and market insights at industry conferences, customer meetings, and internal forums.
Perform other duties as assigned.