Senior Scientist, Downstream Process Development
About this opportunity
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 .
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 .
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.
We are searching for the best talent for a Senior Scientist, Downstream Process Development to be in Spring House, PA.
Purpose:
The Senior Scientist, Downstream Process Development will lead development, optimization, and characterization of scalable purification processes for Lentiviral In-vivo therapeutic modalities, including biologics, and next-generation genetic medicines. This role will provide scientific leadership from early-stage development through clinical-stage readiness, with focus on purification platform strategy, process robustness, scale-up, and implementation of advanced downstream technologies.
You will be responsible for:
Lead development and optimization of downstream purification processes for lentiviral in vivo LV therapeutic products.
Design and oversee chromatography, filtration, UF/DF, and formulation studies to improve product quality, yield, robustness, and manufacturability.
Utilize advanced filtration technologies, including Ambr® TFF, for high-throughput process screening, optimization, and scale-down model development.
Oversee operation and troubleshooting of downstream equipment, including AKTA systems, TFF systems, and chromatography skids.
Apply Process Analytical Technology, online monitoring, and digital bioprocessing tools to strengthen downstream process understanding.
Use JMP, MiniTab, Python, Spotfire, or similar platforms for multivariate data analysis, process modeling, and technical decision-making.
Lead process characterization, scale-up, and platform development activities to support clinical manufacturing readiness.
Evaluate emerging purification technologies and drive continuous improvement to enhance process robustness and development efficiency.
Collaborate closely with analytical, formulation, upstream, modeling, automation, MSAT, and translational sciences teams.
Mentor junior scientists and provide scientific leadership across programs and cross-functional workstreams.
Prepare technical reports, development strategies, scientific presentations, and regulatory documentation.
Qualifications:
Required:
PhD in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field with 1-3 years of relevant industry experience; OR a BS or MS with 4-6 years of relevant experience.
Extensive experience in downstream process development for biologics, cell therapy, gene therapy, or related viral vector modalities.
Hands-on experience with chromatography, clarification, depth filtration, UF/DF, sterile filtration, and process scale-up.
Experience operating and/or leading studies using AKTA chromatography systems, TFF platforms, and Ambr® TFF systems.
Strong understanding of downstream process control strategies, process analytics, and process characterization principles.
Demonstrated ability to independently design, execute, interpret, and communicate complex studies.
Proven scientific leadership, mentoring, and project management experience.
Preferred:
Experience with high-throughput purification screening, Ambr® TFF workflows, and scale-down model qualification.
Familiarity with PAT tools, automation, digital bioprocessing, and advanced data analytics platforms.
Track record of scientific publications, presentations, patents, technology innovation, or cross-functional platform impact.
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 & 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, external applicants please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers . internal employees 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
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 500 comparable Senior Manufacturing & CMC roles across 64 biopharma companies.
Salary context
230 of 500 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 500 comparable roles
+ 18 more countries
Seniority mix
500 of 500 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
1 of 500 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
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How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.