Senior Vector Engineer, Gene Therapy | Equity Options

AstraZeneca; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 118,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity-based awards

Incentives program

Health, dental and vision coverage

Paid time off

Job summary

EsoBiotec, now part of AstraZeneca, invites a Senior Scientist Vector Engineering to advance a pioneering lentiviral vector platform for cell therapy. Based in Cambridge, MA, you will design vectors, run in vitro/in vivo studies, and collaborate with AZ teams to align platform goals with product needs.

You will lead experiments, analyze data, and contribute to publication-ready results while mentoring peers and driving project deliverables in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• PhD with 2+ years postdoc/industry experience in relevant field.
• Proven viral vector design, engineering and characterization for gene therapy.
• Mastery of vector construction, promoters and payload optimization.
• Experience in envelope/pseudotype modification to tune tropism.
• Hands-on with in vitro and in vivo models for vector evaluation.
• Strong data analysis and statistics skills; data-driven decisions.
• Collaborative, proactive, and able to lead cross-functional efforts.
• Publications or open-source contributions demonstrating innovation.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and validate lentiviral vectors for in vivo applications.
• Conduct construct designs, genome optimization, and vector assembly.
• Plan and perform in vitro/in vivo experiments and assess efficacy and safety.
• Develop assays for titer, biodistribution, and immunogenicity with analytics teams.
• Generate hypotheses from literature and datasets to guide concepts.
• Ensure rigorous design, statistics, and documentation for reproducibility.
• Collaborate with discovery, payload biology, bioinformatics, and nonclinical teams.
• Contribute to platform development with screening workflows and models.
• Present findings and risks to leadership; help drive decision making.
• Support IP generation and contribute to invention disclosures.

Skills

Viral vector engineering

Gene editing

CAR/TCR T cell engineering

Myeloid immunobiology

In vivo and in vitro experiments

qPCR / ddPCR

Flow cytometry

Experimental design & statistics

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD in molecular biology / virology / bioengineering

Tools

Flow cytometer

Molecular cloning tools

Bioinformatics collaboration

Job description

EsoBiotec, now part of AstraZeneca, invites a Senior Scientist Vector Engineering to advance a pioneering lentiviral vector platform for cell therapy. Based in Cambridge, MA, you will design vectors, run in vitro/in vivo studies, and collaborate with AZ teams to align platform goals with product needs.

You will lead experiments, analyze data, and contribute to publication-ready results while mentoring peers and driving project deliverables in a fast-paced environment.