Senior Associate Scientist, Upstream Process Development — Bioprocess Automation & Digitization

Pfizer; Andover (MA); On-site; USD 69,000 - 114,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Health benefits

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Pfizer is seeking a Senior Associate Scientist in Andover, MA, for a mixed scientist–developer role focused on upstream mammalian cell culture and automation software. You will join a team building manufacturing processes for clinical trials and contribute to an OPC UA‑based platform connecting bioreactors, analyzers, and data systems.

You will design control schemes, run experiments in scale-down models, and own instrument platforms with collaboration from automation engineers and scientists.

Qualifications

• Must have a Bachelor's degree with 2–4 years' industrial experience, or a Master’s with 0–2 years' industrial experience in Chemical/Bio/ Biomedical/Engineering or related field.
• Working knowledge of at least one programming language and a tangible project you built and delivered.
• Hands‑on laboratory experience in cell culture or protein purification in an academic or industrial lab.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to explain technical decisions to non-coders and adapt to a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Translate process understanding into control requirements; develop, test, and deploy control schemes, alarms, and UI elements on the platform.
• Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments in scale-down models such as shake flasks or bench-top bioreactors.
• Serve as technical owner for one or more instrument platforms and integration work onto the platform.
• Support end-to-end build: version control, code review, testing, deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement with scientific colleagues.

Skills

Lab automation

Cell culture

Programming

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree + 2-4 years

Master's degree + 0-2 years

Tools

OPC UA platform

Bioreactor control systems

Raman probes

Capacitance probes

Job description

What You Will Achieve

A Senior Associate Scientist position is available in the Upstream Process Development group within the Bioprocess R&D organization in Andover, MA. This is a mixed scientist–developer role: roughly half your time will be spent in the lab running mammalian cell culture processes, and half building the software that automates and controls them. You will join a team of scientists and engineers developing manufacturing processes for recombinant proteins and other modalities for early- and late-phase human clinical trials. You will also be a core contributor to our in-house bioprocess automation and digitization platform — an OPC UA-based system that connects bioreactors, analyzers, and PAT instruments to real-time control logic and data infrastructure across multiple Pfizer development and manufacturing sites. Your focus is the application layer: high-level control strategies, instrument drivers, and integration into live lab operations. You will work alongside dedicated automation and controls engineers who own the underlying infrastructure, vendors that own the equipment you’ll control, and scientists who consume your products. We need someone fluent on all sides of that equation — who understands the cell culture process well enough to say what a control scheme should do, knows the equipment well enough to know whether it can, develops the software that does it, and can hold a productive technical conversation with the engineers who own the infrastructure.

How You Will Achieve It

• Translate process understanding into control requirements; develop, test, and deploy control schemes, alarms, and UI elements on the platform
• Design, execute, and troubleshoot experiments in appropriate scale-down models such as shake flasks and bench-top or high-throughput bioreactors
• Serve as technical owner and subject matter expert for one or more instrument platforms — bioreactor control systems, automated cell counters, Raman and capacitance probes, and high-throughput systems — including the integration work that brings them onto the platform
• Support what you build end to end — version control, code review, testing, deployment, monitoring, and support — and work with fellow scientists as a digital SME to troubleshoot and continuously improve the platform
• Contribute to a safe, efficient, and harmonious lab environment; strong lab citizen and collaborative team player

Qualifications

Must Have

• Must Have Bachelor’s degree with 2–4 years’ industrial experience, or Master’s degree with 0–2 years’ industrial experience in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Cell Biology, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a relevant field
• Working knowledge of at least one programming language, plus something substantial you have built and delivered. Not coursework, not a tutorial - published source code is very welcome
• Hands‑on laboratory experience. This could include cell culture or protein purification experience in an academic or industrial lab
• Self-motivated and organized, with excellent attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication including the ability to explain technical decisions to colleagues who do not write code, and the ability to adapt to a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities

Nice to Have

• Software engineering
  • Application and backend development — Any programming language, Git, Streamlit, REST APIs, async programming
• Databases and data engineering — PostgreSQL, Snowflake, Elasticsearch, time-series stores, message brokers, streaming or ETL pipelines
• Infrastructure and operations — can read a Dockerfile, can debug a deployed service, comfortable in Linux, can build in Github Actions
• Hardware-Software integration OPC UA, Modbus, serial/TCP interfaces, or similar industrial communication protocols
• Embedded and hardware integration— microcontrollers, firmware, device drivers, sensor interfacing
• Exposure to PLC or DCS environments such as DeltaV, Rockwell, or Siemens, and/or middleware such as Kepware
• Bioprocess and cell culture Setup, operation, and troubleshooting of fed‑batch and/or perfusion bench‑top or high‑throughput bioreactor platforms, including bench‑scale and AMBR systems
• Experience developing and implementing process control strategies, including real‑time monitoring, integration of PAT and analytical instruments, and data‑driven process optimization
• Lab Instrumentation Practical experience operating and supporting laboratory instrumentation, including analytical, bioreactor, automation, or process control systems. Proven ability to partner with vendors to troubleshoot issues, evaluate technologies, and influence product enhancements based on user requirements.

PHYSICAL/MENTAL REQUIREMENTS

• Lifting, sitting, standing, walking, bending
• Ability to perform mathematical calculations and ability to perform complex data analysis

NON-STANDARD WORK SCHEDULE, TRAVEL OR ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS

• May require occasional work on the weekend for essential tasks
• May need to travel occasionally to attend internal meetings or external conferences

Work Location Assignment:

On Premise

Salary

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $68,600.00 to $114,300.00. In addition, this position is eligible for participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 7.5% of the base salary.

Benefits

We offer comprehensive and generous benefits and programs to help our colleagues lead healthy lives and to support each of life’s moments. Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage.

EEO & Employment Eligibility

Pfizer is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status. Pfizer also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA. Pfizer is an E-Verify employer. This position requires permanent work authorization in the United States. U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

Additional Information

Sunshine Act Pfizer reports payments and other transfers of value to health care providers as required by federal and state transparency laws and implementing regulations. These laws and regulations require Pfizer to provide government agencies with information such as a health care provider’s name, address and the type of payments or other value received, generally for public disclosure. Subject to further legal review and statutory or regulatory clarification, which Pfizer intends to pursue, reimbursement of recruiting expenses for licensed physicians may constitute a reportable transfer of value under the federal transparency law commonly known as the Sunshine Act. Therefore, if you are a licensed physician who incurs recruiting expenses as a result of interviewing with Pfizer that we pay or reimburse, your name, address and the amount of payments made currently will be reported to the government. If you have questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact your Talent Acquisition representative. To learn more about acceptable and prohibited uses of AI during the recruitment process, please review our candidate AI-use guidelines available on Pfizer Careers.

Research and Development

Pfizer careers are like no other. In our culture of individual ownership, we believe in our ability to improve future healthcare, and potential to transform millions of lives. We’re looking for new talent to join our global community, to unearth new innovative therapies that make the world a healthier place.