Technical Officer, Downstream Processing

National Research Council Canada • Montreal, QC

1d • CA$66,126 - CA$91,012 • Onsite

About The Position

The Human Health Therapeutics Research Center (HHT) has a mandate to support the country's economic development through healthcare innovations, including novel therapies. The research center has a strong track record of collaborations with industry and is a key player in the prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With its primary sector of activity being the biopharmaceutical industry, the portfolio targets Canadian SMEs developing therapeutic products, biologics, or vaccines to address human health needs. As part of the Downstream Processing team, the Technical Officer will support NRC, other government departments and industry research activities through technical assistance and facility maintenance at our Royalmount facility in Montreal. The incumbent will be part of a multidisciplinary team, providing essential support for ongoing projects and programs involving our industry partners and other government departments and agencies in the area of biotechnology. The Technical Officer within the Downstream Processing team plays a key role in developing robust and scalable purification processes to enable biologics manufacturing. The incumbent supports early-stage programs by executing and maintaining platform purification activities, contributes to drug development through downstream process development and optimization, and supports clinical trial programs by providing technical support for cGMP clinical batch manufacturing within the Clinical Trial Material Facility (CTMF). This role requires rigorous documentation, strong adherence to established procedures, and effective collaboration with process development and manufacturing teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.) in biotechnology, biochemistry or a field related to the position.
• Significant experience in optimizing protein purification methods for products produced in bacterial, yeast or mammalian expression systems.
• Significant experience executing platform protein purification procedures or developing scalable processes leading to manufacturing.
• Significant experience operating ÄKTA chromatography systems and developing methods using Unicorn software.
• Significant experience in chromatography column packing.
• Significant experience in buffer preparation at various scales.
• Significant experience in setting up and operating tangential flow filtration systems, depth filtration, nanofiltration, and sterile filtration.
• Significant experience in data analysis with MS Excel or similar software packages.
• Experience in biologics manufacturing under GMP environment.
• Reliability Status

Nice To Haves

• A Master’s graduate degree (M.Sc.) in biotechnology, biochemistry or a field related to the position would be considered an asset.
• Experience with a range of DNA and protein analytical techniques, including ELISA, UPLC, and dPCR, will be considered an asset.

Responsibilities

• Adapt and execute platform purification processes in low- or high-throughput formats to achieve target yield and purity of drug candidates.
• Pack and qualify chromatography columns for lab- to large-scale processes and maintain associated column hardware.
• Prepare buffers for small- and large-scale processing in both R&D and GMP environments using scale-appropriate equipment.
• Execute DSP development studies using a QbD approach; demonstrate process robustness and scalability (including impurity/residual clearance and intermediate stability); and scale up processes from bench to pilot scale for GMP manufacturing transfer.
• Provide technical support and assist in cGMP clinical batch manufacturing at CTMF.
• Write batch records and standard operating procedures; maintain detailed records of experimental design, results, and procedures per internal quality standards and regulatory expectations.
• Coordinate procurement of DSP consumables and ensure timely availability to meet project timelines.
• Adhere to occupational health and safety protocols, laboratory security measures, and research confidentiality requirements.

Benefits

• robust pension plan
• comprehensive health and dental coverage
• disability and life insurance
• office closure at the end of December
• additional supports to enhance your well-being throughout your career and beyond

What This Job Offers

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