Scientist II – Oligonucleotide Process Development, Manufacturing Development and Scale-Up

American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy; Carlsbad (CA); On-site; USD 86,000 - 156,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free medical coverage

Excellent retirement plan

Tuition reimbursement

Company recognition as a great place

Job summary

Abbott seeks an Oligonucleotide Scientist in Carlsbad, CA to drive solid-phase synthesis, process development, and tech transfer from nanogram to milligram scale. You will troubleshoot chemistries, optimize cycles, and work across Analytical, Purification, and Manufacturing teams to ensure robust GMP-compliant processes.

The role requires hands-on oligonucleotide synthesis, LC/MS characterization, and documentation of development work. Strong independence and scientific writing are essential.

Qualifications

• Hands-on solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis experience.
• BS/MS/PhD with appropriate field.
• Direct experience operating automated oligonucleotide synthesizers.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis on automated synthesizers.
• Develop and optimize synthesis cycles and scale-up processes.
• Characterize products by LC/MS and HPLC; troubleshoot impurities.
• Partner with Analytical Development, Purification, Quality, Manufacturing, and Regulatory teams.

Skills

Solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis

Chemical synthesis troubleshooting

Analytical data interpretation

Scientific writing

Independent work prioritization

Education

BS in biological/physical sciences or math

MS with 2+ years or PhD

Tools

Waters LC/MS

Automated oligo synthesizers

Job description

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Working at Abbott
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and your family, be your true self, and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.

• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.

• An excellent retirement savings plan with a high employer contribution.

• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program, and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.

• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries worldwide and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.

• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity
The Scientist II role works out of our Carlsbad, CA location in the Infectious Disease Division at Abbott. We’re empowering smarter medical and economic decision-making to help transform the way people manage their health at all stages of life. Every day, more than 10 million tests are run on Abbott’s diagnostics instruments, providing lab results for millions of people.

What You’ll Work On

We are seeking an Oligonucleotide Scientist with responsibilities spanning Process Development, Manufacturing Development, and Scale-Up of solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis. In this role, you will execute, research, develop and optimize oligonucleotide processes across the full development lifecycle — from early feasibility runs through process characterization, tech transfer and scale-up. You will work hands-on with automated synthesizers, develop and refine synthesis cycles, troubleshoot complex chemistries, and drive scale-up from nano-gram process development to micro/milli-gram scale-up. This is a high-impact role for a scientist who enjoys solving problems at the intersection of organic chemistry, analytical science, and process engineering. The scientist will also Independently develop data presentations for use within organization.

• Design and execute solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis on automated synthesizers (e.g., ÄKTA Oligosynt, ÄKTA Pilot 100, GE/Cytiva flow-through platforms) using phosphoramidite chemistry.

• Develop, optimize, and document synthesis cycles, including coupling, capping, oxidation/sulfurization, and detritylation steps, and tune cycle parameters (reagent equivalents, contact times, flow rates) for each scale and chemistry.

• Support scale-up from process development (PD) to engineering and GMP production batches, including selection of solid supports (CPG, polystyrene, UnyLinker), columns (e.g., SYC, FineLINE), and reagent footprints.

• Synthesize complex modified oligonucleotides, including phosphorothioate (PS) backbones, 2′-OMe, 2′-MOE, LNA, and other relevant modifications.

• Characterize crude and purified product by analytical UPLC, IEX-HPLC, RP-HPLC, and LC/MS; interpret mass spectra to identify and quantify related impurities (n−1, n+1, depurination, longmers, shortmers, branched species, oxidation/sulfurization products).

• Troubleshoot synthesis failures and impurity profiles, drive root-cause investigations, and implement process improvements.

• Author and review technical documents — protocols, batch records, development reports, deviation investigations, and tech-transfer packages.

• Partner cross-functionally with Analytical Development, Downstream Processing/Purification, Quality, Manufacturing, and Regulatory teams.

• Maintain a safe, clean, and compliant lab environment in accordance with company SOPs and applicable cGMP/ICH guidelines.

Required Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis using phosphoramidite chemistry.

• B.S in biological or physical sciences, or mathematics; with minimum of 4 yrs.

• M.S. w/ minimum 2 yrs experience. Or Ph.D.

• Direct experience operating at least one automated oligonucleotide synthesizer.

• Working knowledge of common solid supports (CPG, polystyrene, UnyLinker) and the relationship between support loading, column geometry, and synthesis scale.

• Hands-on experience with LC/MS for oligonucleotide characterization, with demonstrated ability to identify and quantify related impurities (n−1, n+1, depurination, longmers, shortmers, branched species, oxidation/desulfurization products) and to perform sequence confirmation by MS/MS fragmentation.

• Familiarity with complementary oligonucleotide analytical techniques: UPLC/HPLC (RP and IEX) for purity assessment.

• Strong scientific writing and documentation skills.

• Ability to work independently, prioritize multiple projects, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a GMP or pharmaceutical API manufacturing environment.

• Experience operating Waters LC/MS systems (e.g., Xevo, SYNAPT, ACQUITY-MS) and associated data-processing software (MassLynx, UNIFI).

• Experience with scale-up (nmol to mmol scale) and tech transfer of oligonucleotide processes.

• Familiarity with conjugated oligonucleotides (e.g., lipid conjugates).

• Experience with downstream operations — cleavage/deprotection, IEX or RP preparative purification, ultrafiltration/diafiltration, and lyophilization.

• Familiarity with statistical tools (JMP, Minitab) and Design of Experiments (DoE).

• Awareness of regulations and standards affecting IVDs and Biologics

• Basic computer skills - able to learn new computer programs

Learn more about our health and wellness benefits, which provide the security to help you and your family live full lives: https://abbottbenefits.com/

Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.

Connect with us at abbott.com, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AbbottCareers.

The base pay for this position is $85,600.00 – $156,000.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.