Amgen Inc. Posted November 10, 2026

Process Development Associate Scientist, Drug Product Visual Inspection Sciences

Thousand Oaks, United States Full time
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Amgen Inc. is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Career Category

Operations

Job Description

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission, to serve patients living with serious illnesses, drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline and portfolio of medicines to treat heart disease, obesity and obesity-related conditions, rare diseases, inflammatory conditions and cancer.  As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Process Development Associate Scientist – Drug Product Visual Inspection Sciences

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will Amgen’s Drug Product Process Engineering team in the Drug Product

Technologies organization.  Reporting to the Sr Principal Scientist Visual Inspections Manager of Amgen Thousand Oaks (ATO) Drug Products

Site Process Development, this role will be responsible for commercial and clinical manufacturing support in visual inspections to ensure execution excellence of new product introductions into the drug product manufacturing facility and support on-going manufacture in Thousand Oaks. The candidate will play a key role providing site leadership in visual inspections defect creations. This role will be based in Thousand Oaks, CA. Some US or international travel may be required to support Amgen’s drug product network.

Leads the creation of visual inspection defect standards to enable clinical and commercial new product introductions (NPIs) and support on-going manufacture of parenteral drug products to Amgen’s drug product manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks.

Designs, implements and documents on-site DP characterization studies, working instructions, standard operating procedures, and protocols in support / ownership of visual inspection defect creations.

Author and/or own high-quality technical and GMP documents.

Ensuring all aspects of all visual inspection process development supports activities adheres to required policies and procedures, including safety and training.

Ensure that the site meets the quality requirements of its customers and applicable regulations (FDA, EU & global standards).

Assist in the development of any existing visual inspection program to ensure continued compliance to the necessary regulations.

Build and sustain excellent relationships with partners – drug product teams, NPI, QA, Process Development and manufacturing teams throughout the Amgen global network to ensure alignment between program needs and site capabilities.

Build, maintain and improve visual inspection defect creations process.

Provide process development expertise for visual inspections and defect creations.

Demonstrate a deep understanding of Amgen’s drug product and primary container platforms, and support continuous improvement.

Establishes strong working relationships with partner sites across DP Manufacturing network to foster the sharing of technical best practices, improvement opportunities and lessons learnt to deliver high-quality manufacturing processes.

Acts as single Point of Contact (POC) to Amgen network as ATO defect creations leader.

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The Associate Scientist professional we seek is a go getter with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications:

Master’s degree

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of Engineering or Operations experience

OR

Associate’s degree and 4 years of Engineering or Operations experience

OR

High school diploma / GED and 6 years of Engineering or Operations experience

Preferred Qualifications:

Advanced Degree in engineering, biotechnology, life sciences, or related discipline with 4+ years of drug product process development experience in the pharmaceuticals/biotechnology industry.

Demonstrated expertise in leading functional area deliverables in visual inspections and defect creations from planning through completion, with measurable impact to business outcomes.

Knowledge of aseptic processing and strong skills in applying fundamental engineering and scientific principles to the characterization of freeze/thaw, formulation/mixing, filtration, filling, lyophilization, capping, and visual inspection.

Experience in cGMP manufacturing environment, knowledge of cGMP’s and other global regulatory requirements.

Demonstrated ability in leading multi-functional teams to advance complex projects to completion and positively influence peers and executive leadership on decision-making.

Project management skills, including the ability to manage numerous projects and evaluate project resource requirements.

Experience with building strong relationships in a matrix team environment, collaborating with Process Development, Project Management, Manufacturing, Regulatory, Quality and Compliance.

Ability to learn and act on dynamic information at a rapid pace and escalate relevant issues to management when required.

Ability to independently design and execute characterization studies, author characterization protocols, working instructions, standard operating procedures, and technical reports

Proficiency in technical problem solving, critical thinking, and delivery of technical solutions with limited oversight

Demonstrated track record of taking initiative in identifying and implementing innovative approaches and ideas.

Capable of organizing and communicating complex technical concepts to enable business decisions

Strong knowledge of Quality systems and Drug Product Manufacturing (GMP).

Demonstrated ability to use interpersonal skills to build strong technical relationships.

Self-motivation, adaptability and a positive attitude.

Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.

Ability to elevate relevant issues to project lead and line-management.

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:

A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan

Stock-based long-term incentives

Award-winning time-off plans

Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.

careers.amgen.com

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Application deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent with legal requirements. Please contact us to request accommodation.

. Salary Range

90,442.55USD -122,363.45 USD

Job details

Seniority
Associate
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Thousand Oaks, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 157 comparable Associate Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 40 biopharma companies.

157Comparable roles tracked
141Currently active
40Companies hiring similar roles
15Countries represented

Salary context

46 of 157 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.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Lab Associate Flow Cytometry · IQVIA $34,700/yr – $72,300/yr
Peer group range $53,500 – $187,500 (median $90,200)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 157 comparable roles

United States104
France16
Germany12
United Kingdom6
China3
Canada3

+ 9 more countries

Seniority mix

157 of 157 peers have a known seniority level

Intern/Fellow/Postdoc70
Associate60
Manager27

Therapeutic area mix

23 of 157 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology10
Oncology9
Neuroscience3
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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.

60%similar
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Cambridge, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
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60%similar
Amgen Inc. Cambridge, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pfizer Groton, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Tarrytown, United States Associate
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60%similar
Lilly Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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.

60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Process Development Associate- Attribute Sciences
Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 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.