Senior Director, Engineering and Materials Science

Scorpion Therapeutics; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex is seeking a talented leader to join the Engineering and Materials Science department in Boston, MA. The successful candidate will lead a diverse team of engineers and scientists and contribute to the development and scale-up of drug substance and drug product candidates.

This role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, process development, scale-up, technology transfer to manufacturing partners, and advancing regulatory dossiers.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in materials science/chemistry with pharma materials development experience.
• Five years of team management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional team to define and demonstrate multi-step syntheses for manufacturing APIs from clinical to launch.
• Lead drug substance process development, modeling, and tech transfer to contract manufacturers.
• Collaborate across materials science, chemistry, analytics, and formulation to optimize drug substance properties.
• Promote adoption of process modeling.
• Lead projects across pharmaceutical sciences.
• Mentor junior scientists and promote best practices.
• Influence strategic direction of the department.
• Communicate across interdisciplinary teams.

Skills

Team leadership

Pharmaceutical process development

Unit operations

Process modeling

QbD concepts

Regulatory dossiers

Communication skills

Education

BS in Materials Science/Chemistry

MS in Materials Science/Chemistry

PhD in Materials Science/Chemistry

5 years management experience

Job description

General Summary:

Vertex is seeking a talented individual to join the Engineering and Materials Science department in Boston, MA. The successful candidate will be a productive, results-oriented leader who is able to lead a diverse team of engineers and scientists and contribute to the successful development and scale-up of drug substance and drug product candidates.

Key Duties And Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop a cross-functional team to define, develop, and demonstrate viable multi-step syntheses for robust manufacture of small-molecule or oligonucleotide active pharmaceutical ingredients across clinical development through commercialization/launch.
• Lead drug substance process development; drive multiple assets via laboratory development, modeling, drug supply preparation, and technology transfer to third-party manufacturing facilities.
• Collaborate with materials discovery, process chemistry, analytical development, and formulation to improve discovery/development and optimize drug substance properties and performance.
• Drive adoption of process modeling within the department.
• Potentially lead projects across pharmaceutical sciences.
• Promote innovation and industry best practices; mentor junior scientists.
• Influence departmental strategic direction.
• Collaborate and communicate effectively across an interdisciplinary team.

Knowledge And Skills:

• Experience leading engineers/scientists in pharmaceutical process development.
• Advanced knowledge of unit operations for small-molecule and/or oligonucleotide drug substance development (particle engineering, reaction kinetics/thermodynamics, transport fundamentals).
• Experience modeling complex physicochemical systems; data analysis; statistical design of experiments; QbD concepts; use of physical property and process modeling tools.
• Demonstrated process scale-up and regulatory dossier authoring.
• Process development and problem solving in a matrix environment.
• Strong communication skills.

Education And Experience:

• BS (+20 years), MS (+15 years), or PhD (+11 years) in Materials Science/Chemistry or closely related field, with relevant pharmaceutical materials development experience.
• 5 years experience managing a team.