Senior Scientist - Mass Spectrometry (MS), 12 month Fixed-Term Contract

CSL; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

CSL Behring seeks a Senior Scientist in Mass Spectrometry (MS) to lead the development and maintenance of MS-based analytical methods for product development at CSL’s Melbourne HQ. You will drive studies characterising biomolecules and variants, supporting TechOps in a cross-functional team.

You will oversee instrument maintenance, data integrity and cutting-edge MS analysis, contributing to regulatory-compliant characterisation and product safety assessment.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree (preferably PhD, MSc or equivalent) and/or experience in a relevant discipline.
• 8+ years relevant industry or equivalent experience with BSc.
• 6+ years relevant industry or equivalent experience with MSc or 2+ years with a PhD in MS-based characterisation.
• Experience in analytical chemistry with protein characterisation using hyphenated MS techniques and SDS-PAGE, western blotting, and electrophoresis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine MS-based workflows for recombinant and plasma-derived biotherapeutic characterisation, integrating MS data with regulatory guidelines.
• Identify and characterise PTMs and heterogeneities in recombinant proteins, focusing on product efficacy and safety.
• Maintain and operate MS instrumentation in the core lab and support protein characterisation.
• Plan, perform, evaluate and report experiments with scientific integrity at high standards.
• Present results to internal and external stakeholders, explaining complex information clearly.
• Foster relationships across IPTs, TechOps, and global researchers.
• Provide MS leadership and training to team members.
• Ensure data integrity by complying with ELN, Veeva and other data standards.

Skills

Mass spectrometry expertise

Protein characterisation

Analytical chemistry

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD in a relevant discipline

MSc in a relevant discipline

BSc with extensive experience

Tools

ESI-MS/MS

MALDI-MS/MS

Orbitrap

qTOF

QqQ

HPLC/UPLC

Job description

Senior Scientist – Mass Spectrometry (MS) 12 month FTC

CSL is looking for a Senior Scientist – Mass Spectrometry (MS) 12 month FTC to join the Molecular Characterisation and Method development cross- IPT at CSL’s global headquarters in the heart of Melbourne’s biomedical precinct.

Reporting to the Associate Director – Molecular Characterisation, you will provide leadership and contribute the development, implementation and maintenance of key mass spectrometry-based robust and scalable analytical methods in support of product development activities within the TechOps function.

You will plan and conduct mass spectrometry-based studies supporting characterisation of biomolecules including identification and quantification of product and process-related variants, impurities, and/or cell culture media profiling.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and refine industry-standard product characterisation workflows to support recombinant and plasma derived biotherapeutic characterisation, integrating MS data analytics pipelines with regulatory guidelines to support product development activities
• Employ a combination of MS-based and non-MS based protein analytical techniques to identify, characterise and correlate post-translational modifications and their associated heterogeneities in recombinant proteins with particular emphasis on those affecting product efficacy and safety including product comparability assessment
• Perform housekeeping and maintenance of state-of-art instruments available in the mass spectrometry core lab as required, supporting general and functional characterisation of recombinant proteins
• Contribute to the planning, performance, evaluation and reporting of scientific experiments at the highest levels of scientific integrity
• Present results from both independent and collaborative laboratory work to internal and external stakeholders as needed. This includes explaining highly complex or technical information to facilitate the smooth progress of CSL projects
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships across other IPTs within the TechOps, global research, and other stakeholders
• Provide leadership, training and technical MS expertise to team members
• Ensure the highest level of data integrity by complying with relevant scientific and data standards (e.g. ELN, Veeva, structured data capture, etc.)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Postgraduate degree (preferably PhD, M.Sc. or equivalent degree) and/or experience in a relevant discipline
• 8+ years relevant industry or equivalent experience with B.Sc.
• 6+ years relevant industry or equivalent experience with M.Sc. or 2+ years with a PhD in the field of mass spectrometry-based protein characterisation
• Demonstrated experience in analytical chemistry with a strong background in protein characterisation using various separation techniques with hyphenated mass spectrometry-based techniques and classical approaches such as SDS- PAGE, western blotting, and electrophoresis
• Extensive experience in operating and maintaining mass spectrometry instrumentation, particularly as applied to protein, peptide, and glycan analysis (e.g. ESI-MS/MS, MALDI-MS/MS, good knowledge of qTOF’s, QqQ, and Orbitrap instruments).
• Prior experience of cell culture media and metabolite profiling would be a plus
• Proficient in mass spectrometry data analysis tools, specifically in-depth protein characterisation, cell culture nutrient and metabolite profiling, product attribute validation and monitoring.
• Ability to perform additional data analytics and visualisation using R or Python would be advantageous
• Ability to establish and adhere to project timelines
• Effective time management skills and ability to work/lead in a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team environment
• Attention to detail with excellent written (technical/scientific) and oral communication skills, including the ability to convey new concepts to other staff members

Close date for Applications: 10th November 2026

About CSL Behring

CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by our promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we discover, develop and deliver innovative therapies for people living with conditions in the immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic, respiratory, and transplant therapeutic areas. We use three strategic scientific platforms of plasma fractionation, recombinant protein technology, and cell and gene therapy to support continued innovation and continually refine ways in which products can address unmet medical needs and help patients lead full lives. CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. Our parent company, CSL, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs 32,000 people, and delivers its lifesaving therapies to people in more than 100 countries. To learn more about CSL, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor visit https://www.csl.com/ and CSL Plasma at https://www.cslplasma.com/.

Our Benefits

For more information on CSL benefits visit How CSL Supports Your Well-being | CSL.

You Belong at CSL

At CSL, Inclusion and Belonging is at the core of our mission and who we are. It fuels our innovation day in and day out. By celebrating our differences and creating a culture of curiosity and empathy, we are able to better understand and connect with our patients and donors, foster strong relationships with our stakeholders, and sustain a diverse workforce that will move our company and industry into the future.

Equal Opportunity Employer

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