Senior Upstream Viral Process Scientist (Equity)

Dispatch Bio; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Top-tier health coverage

401(k) with generous contributions

Life insurance

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Dispatch Bio seeks a Senior Scientist to lead upstream viral process development, advancing T cell and viral vector pipelines toward the clinic. You will run bench-scale cultures, design experiments, and transfer processes with the research, TechOps, and external partners.

The role emphasizes collaboration, rigorous data analysis, and document control, with hands-on GMP exposure and a track record in cell/gene therapy manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering/Bioengineering, Biotechnology or related discipline with at least 10 years of relevant experience -OR- Master’s Degree with 8 years -OR- PhD with 5 years
• Hands‑on experience with viral vector upstream processing, including excellent small‑scale aseptic technique and expert understanding of bioreactor operation and control loops
• Experience implementing processes in clinical and commercial manufacturing of cell and gene therapy/biopharma products
• Demonstrated ability to apply knowledge of cell biology, chemical engineering or bioengineering toward process development, scale‑up/scale‑down and troubleshooting
• Strong scientific reasoning, problem‑solving, and applied mathematics and statistics skills
• Proven experience collaborating with internal and external partners
• Ability to balance individual contributions while training and informally mentoring junior colleagues
• Working knowledge of GMP guidelines for clinical and commercial manufacturing
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational & problem‑solving skills, with excellent attention to detail and the proven ability to collaborate in a dynamic team environment

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the setup and organization of the company’s vector process development capabilities
• Develop bench scale suspension culture processes for viral vector generation within shake flasks and bioreactors through design and execution of experiments to support process characterization, and process transfer activities between the research team, TechOps, and external partners
• Provide experimental execution, data review and analysis, and maintenance of accurate and detailed lab notebooks
• Perform day-to-day activities in the vector process development lab including maintaining equipment, ordering materials and managing inventory, and preparing buffers and process aids
• Author and review technical documents, including batch records, SOPs, development reports and process-specific sections of regulatory documents
• Represent the company externally at meetings (professional associations, with regulatory bodies, etc.)
• Serve as a PD subject matter expert on both internal and external teams (CDMO, material & equipment suppliers, etc.)

Skills

Viral vector upstream

Aseptic technique

Bioreactor operation

GMP knowledge

Data analysis

Scientific reasoning

Collaboration

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's in Chemical/Biochemical/Bioengineering or related

Master's in related field

PhD in related area

Tools

JMP

GraphPad

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Dispatch Bio seeks a Senior Scientist to lead upstream viral process development, advancing T cell and viral vector pipelines toward the clinic. You will run bench-scale cultures, design experiments, and transfer processes with the research, TechOps, and external partners.

The role emphasizes collaboration, rigorous data analysis, and document control, with hands-on GMP exposure and a track record in cell/gene therapy manufacturing.