Pilot Ops Scientist — Cell Culture & Scale-Up

Merck; West Point (PA); On-site; USD 72,000 - 113,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Paid holidays

Vacation and sick days

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Scientist in North Wales, PA, to support pilot-scale mammalian cell culture and transfer processes to commercial production. You will operate pilot bioreactors, contribute to scale-up, characterization, and PPQ activities, collaborating across PD, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams.

The role requires hands-on experience with cell culture, aseptic techniques, and strong data integrity, with a collaborative mindset and excellent documentation skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with 0–2 years of relevant experience or 5+ years of experience with a high school diploma.
• Hands-on or academic experience in mammalian cell culture and aseptic technique.
• Experience with pilot-scale bioreactors and scale-up activities.

Responsibilities

• Pilot Operations (Primary Focus): Execute and support pilot-scale mammalian cell culture runs, bioreactor setup, operation, monitoring, sampling, and troubleshooting.
• Scale-Up & Commercialization: Support scale-up of cell culture processes from lab to pilot and manufacturing scale.
• Technical Execution: Assist with process characterization studies, process validation (PPQ-enabling work), and regulatory filing support.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with PD, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams to ensure tech transfer.

Skills

Mammalian cell culture

Aseptic handling

Bioreactor operations

Data integrity

Documentation & communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biological Engineering, or related field

Job description

Merck is seeking an Associate Scientist in North Wales, PA, to support pilot-scale mammalian cell culture and transfer processes to commercial production. You will operate pilot bioreactors, contribute to scale-up, characterization, and PPQ activities, collaborating across PD, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory teams.

The role requires hands-on experience with cell culture, aseptic techniques, and strong data integrity, with a collaborative mindset and excellent documentation skills.