Summer Intern, Polysaccharide

Vaxcyte • San Carlos, CA

6h • $23 - $26 • Onsite

About The Position

Vaxcyte is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases, which have serious and costly health consequences when left unchecked. Working to eradicate or treat bacterial infections such as invasive pneumococcal disease, Group A Strep, and Shigella is just the beginning. Our path to success is clear and well-defined, and Vaxcyte is set up to go the distance.
WHAT we do is every bit as important as HOW we do it! Our work together is guided by four enduring core values:
RETHINK CONVENTION: We bring creative and intellectual diversity to every facet of the work we do in order to innovate and re-innovate the way vaccines are delivered.
AIM HIGH: We embody our collectively audacious goal to courageously make the most complex biologics ever attempted to protect humankind.
LEAD WITH HEART: Everyone leads at Vaxcyte with a kindness-first, inclusive approach to collaboration and vigorous debate that advances our business objectives.
MODEL EXCELLENCE: The magnitude of our challenge requires our shared commitment to demonstrating integrity, accountability, equality and clarity across communications and decision making.
Summary:
Vaxcyte’s Summer Internship program offers students with an opportunity to gain valuable work experience that complements their college curriculum with relevant hands-on work that can shape their future career pathing and interests.
As a Polysaccharide Intern for Vaxcyte, you will work on a project as outlined below:
Conduct a literature review to evaluate potential methods (chemical treatment) for removing residual impurities from intermediate fill materials.
Design and execute laboratory studies to assess the effectiveness of the selected purification approach across multiple PCV serotypes.
Perform chemical treatments and measure polysaccharide recovery using relevant analytical assays.
Document experimental conditions and results, analyze data, and evaluate potential impacts on critical quality attributes (CQAs).
Present findings and recommendations to support ongoing PCV process development efforts.
The Intern will learn and practice:
Applying scientific literature to inform experimental design and guide purification process development strategies.
Evaluating purification concepts to determine feasibility and relevance for real-world manufacturing applications.
Assessing method performance through structured feasibility studies and comparative analysis.
Developing data-driven decision-making skills to support process optimization and technical recommendations.
Program Details:
The Internship will begin in June and will be around 10 weeks (8 hours per day) in duration at our San Carlos, California location.

Requirements

• Must be pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree (enrolled student with at least 2 years at university completed) or Master’s Degree with a focus on Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or Biochemistry.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Strong attention to detail and work quality.
• Demonstrates collaboration and teamwork.
• Enthusiastic-Shows curiosity and is eager to learn.

Nice To Haves

• previous lab experience (wearing PPE, handling reagents, buffer making, pipetting) and equipment experience (AKTA)

Responsibilities

• Conduct a literature review to evaluate potential methods (chemical treatment) for removing residual impurities from intermediate fill materials.
• Design and execute laboratory studies to assess the effectiveness of the selected purification approach across multiple PCV serotypes.
• Perform chemical treatments and measure polysaccharide recovery using relevant analytical assays.
• Document experimental conditions and results, analyze data, and evaluate potential impacts on critical quality attributes (CQAs).
• Present findings and recommendations to support ongoing PCV process development efforts.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern