Senior Scientist – Lentiviral Vector Upstream Process Development

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; Spring House (PA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in Spring House, PA, seeks a Senior Scientist for Lentiviral Vector Upstream Process Development to lead scalable cell culture programs for cell therapy and CAR-T efforts.

You will drive development, optimization, and tech transfer, with emphasis on data-driven process understanding and robust upstream platforms across scales.

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field with 2+ years of relevant experience; OR BS or MS with 4-6 years of relevant experience.
• Experience with process development of viral based products.
• Experience in mammalian cell culture process development for biologics, cell and gene therapy, RNA therapeutics, or related viral vector modalities.
• Hands-on experience with cell culture, bioreactor operation, media optimization, process monitoring, and process scale-up.
• Strong data analysis, experimental design, and technical documentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design, execute, interpret, and communicate complex studies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute upstream process development studies for lentiviral therapeutic products and provide scientific guidance.
• Conduct cell culture experiments using shake flasks, bench-scale bioreactors, and automated high-throughput systems.
• Contribute to development of lentiviral processes to continuously improve productivity, quality, and manufacturability.
• Perform technology transfer to and collaborate with Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing sites.
• Support existing and new commercial manufacturing investigations and provide subject matter expert knowledge as part of product life cycle management.
• Apply statistical experimental design, data analytics, and online monitoring and visualization tools to strengthen upstream process understanding.
• Analyze and interpret process data using JMP, MiniTab, Python, Spotfire, or similar platforms.
• Evaluate emerging novel upstream technologies that improve process robustness and development efficiency.
• Collaborate closely with downstream, analytical, formulation, modeling, automation to align study design and deliverables.
• Mentor junior scientists and provide scientific leadership across programs and cross-functional workstreams.
• Author technical reports, development summaries, scientific presentations, protocols, and regulatory-supporting documentation.

Skills

Viral vector

Mammalian cell culture

Bioprocess development

Process scale-up

Data analysis

Technology transfer

GMP knowledge

Education

PhD in Chemical/Biochemical Engineering or related

BS/MS with 4–6 years experience

Tools

JMP

Minitab

Python

Spotfire

Job description

At Johnson & Johnson,we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build aworld where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured,where treatments are smarter and less invasive, andsolutions are personal.Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.Learn more at jnj.com.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function

Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function

Biotherapeutics R&D

Job Category

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description

At Johnson & Johnson,we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com. We are searching for the best talent for a Senior Scientist – Lentiviral Vector Upstream Process Development to be based in Spring House, PA.

Purpose

The Senior Scientist, Lentiviral Vector Upstream Process Development, will lead development, optimization, and characterization of scalable cell culture processes for cell therapy and CAR-T programs. This role will provide scientific leadership for early- or clinical-stage process development, with emphasis on cell culture and bioreactor execution at varying scales and data-driven process understanding, platform robustness and knowledge and optimization of upstream process technologies. This role will also support technology transfer to Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing sites, commercial manufacturing investigations and provide subject matter expert knowledge as part of life cycle management for cell therapy products in Johnson & Johnson’s pipeline.

You Will Be Responsible For

• Design and execute upstream process development studies for lentiviral therapeutic products and provide scientific guidance.
• Conduct cell culture experiments using shake flasks, bench-scale bioreactors, and automated high-throughput systems.
• Contribute to development of lentiviral processes to continuously improve productivity, quality, and manufacturability.
• Perform technology transfer to and collaborate with Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing sites
• Support existing and new commercial manufacturing investigations and provide subject matter expert knowledge as part of product life cycle management
• Apply statistical experimental design, data analytics, and online monitoring and visualization tools to strengthen upstream process understanding.
• Analyze and interpret process data using JMP, MiniTab, Python, Spotfire, or similar platforms.
• Evaluate emerging novel upstream technologies that improve process robustness and development efficiency.
• Collaborate closely with downstream, analytical, formulation, modeling, automation to align study design and deliverables
• Mentor junior scientists and provide scientific leadership across programs and cross-functional workstreams.
• Author technical reports, development summaries, scientific presentations, protocols, and regulatory-supporting documentation.

Qualifications

Required

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field with 2+ years of relevant experience; OR BS or MS with 4-6 years of relevant experience.
• Experience with process development of viral based products.
• Experience in mammalian cell culture process development for biologics, cell and gene therapy, RNA therapeutics, or related viral vector modalities.
• Hands-on experience with cell culture, bioreactor operation, media optimization, process monitoring, and process scale-up.
• Strong data analysis, experimental design, and technical documentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently design, execute, interpret, and communicate complex studies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional team environments.
• Previous experience with technology transfer of a bioprocess to clinical or commercial GMP manufacturing is strongly preferred
• Occasional weekend work may be required
• Up to 10% domestic and international travel may be required

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Johnson and Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, please email the Employee Health Support Center ([e-mail]) or contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

Required Skills

Preferred Skills

Analytical Reasoning, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control (CMC), Coaching, Consulting, Critical Thinking, Drug Discovery Development, Emerging Technologies, Molecular Diagnostics, Pharmacogenetics, Pharmacovigilance, Process Improvements, Quality Assurance (QA), Relationship Building, Research Documents, Scientific Research, Technologically Savvy