King's College London: Advanced Therapies Production Scientist/Research Associate

Lisebleijs; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in cell therapy is seeking a PhD-qualified production scientist to lead GMP manufacturing for a pioneering CAR-T clinical trial at King's College London. The successful candidate will oversee a dedicated team, contributing to a transformative research project targeting refractory cancers with CAR-T therapy.

Qualifications

• Strong background in GMP manufacturing of advanced therapy investigational medicinal products.
• Proficient in flow cytometry and experienced in clinical trials.
• Supervision of students/junior staff and lab management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead GMP manufacturing of CAR-T cells for anti-CD19 CAR-T study.
• Manage a team of CAR-T cell production scientists and technicians.
• Support GMP manufacturing of other ATiMPs at King's CTU.

Skills

GMP manufacturing

Flow cytometry

Quality management system documentation

Data analysis and presentation

Education

PhD in relevant subject area

Pending PhD results

Tools

Viral vectors

Cell manufacturing platforms

Job description

About Us

King's College London and its partner NHS Trusts - King's College Hospital and Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital together have one of the largest chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell programmes in the UK with licensed and experimental CAR-T products being administered for patients with B-cell leukaemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, solid tumours and autoimmune disease.

About The Role

This role is to lead the GMP manufacturing of CAR-T cells for a Cancer Research UK funded, first-in-human, anti-CD19 CAR-T study for B-cell lymphomas due to open at King's College Hospital in 2026. The postholder will lead a team of CAR-T cell production scientists and technicians based at King's Cell Therapy Unit (CTU) in Denmark Hill and work closely with the pre-clinical, process development and Haematology department clinical teams. King's CTU offers GMP manufacturing facilities for cell and gene therapy products including lenti/retroviral vectors, hepatocytes, islet cells, mesenchymal stromal cells and CAR-T cells. The postholder will have a strong background in GMP manufacturing of advanced therapy investigational medicinal products (ATiMPs), be proficient in flow cytometry, have prior experience with clinical trials and an in-depth knowledge of immunology and CAR-T cell biology. The individual may also be required to support GMP manufacturing of other ATiMPs at King's CTU and at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital GMP facility.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced production scientist to join a rapidly expanding academic CAR-T programme at King's Health Partners and contribute to innovative research enabling patients with refractory cancers to be treated with potentially transformative CAR-T therapy products.

This is a full time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 20/07/2025 with the likelihood of a 3 year extension for delivering a 5 year clinical study.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in relevant subject area (or pending results)
2. Experience in GMP manufacturing of ATiMPs
3. Experience with viral vectors
4. Flow cytometry experience
5. Experience in quality management system documentation
6. Experience with leading projects
7. Experience with analysing, presenting scientific data
8. Experience with supervision of students/junior staff and lab management

Desirable criteria

1. Experience in GMP manufacturing of CAR-T cells
2. Experience with cell manufacturing platforms such as Miltenyi Prodigy, Lonza Cocoon, G-Rex, etc
3. Experience with clinical trials

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click "Apply Now". This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit' pages.