Senior Microbiologist

Carlsbad, California, United States Full time
Quality Senior
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Merck KGaA 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

Work Your Magic with us!  Start your next chapter and join MilliporeSigma.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.

Your Role:

As a Senior Microbiologist within the Quality Control Microbiology team, you will serve as a technical subject-matter expert (SME) for microbiology testing and environmental monitoring in a GMP viral-vector manufacturing environment. You will lead method and equipment implementation, technical studies, investigations, quality-system projects, trend analysis, and process improvements. You will also provide technical direction to analysts and collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Process Development, Engineering, Validation, and client teams to resolve issues and deliver compliant, reliable results.

Senior Microbiologist responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Microbiology and environmental monitoring SME in audits and regulatory inspections.

Provide technical direction for microbiology testing, studies, and contamination-control activities.

Troubleshoot laboratory methods, equipment, software, and data issues.

Lead risk-based assessments for microbiology controls (HACCP, FMEA).

Implement and qualify new microbiology methods and equipment.

Author/execute study protocols and reports, including product qualification and disinfectant efficacy studies.

Trend and review testing/environmental monitoring to identify adverse trends and drive corrective actions (CAPAs).

Lead microbiology lab testing (growth promotion, preservation, identification, bioburden, endotoxin, media fill, indicators) and perform method validation/verification for USP/EP/JP compliance; lead investigations and CAPA/Change Control activities when needed.

This position primarily works a standard daytime schedule from Monday through Friday but may occasionally require off-shift, weekend, or overtime work to support manufacturing campaigns, investigations, audits, and other business-critical activities.

Physical and work environment requirements:

Wearing PPE when entering the cleanroom space. PPE includes safety glasses, face masks, hoods, scrubs, sterile gowns, gloves, sleeves, and boot covers

Sit and reach to use computers and other office/lab equipment

Occasionally stand for extended periods of time, up to four (4) to five (5) hours/time

Occasionally lift up to fifty (50) pounds

View objects at close and distant ranges

Occasional exposure to fumes, airborne particles, chemicals, vibration and biohazardous materials

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Biology, Biochemistry, or a related life-science discipline

7+  years of microbiology experience in a regulated GMP laboratory supporting biologics, sterile products, cell therapy, gene therapy, or viral-vector manufacturing

OR

High school diploma or GED

9+  years of microbiology experience in a regulated GMP laboratory supporting biologics, sterile products, cell therapy, gene therapy, or viral-vector manufacturing

 

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience in investigations, CAPAs, change controls, technical documentation, SOPs, protocols, risk and trend reports, personnel training and competency assessment, and ALCOA+ data-integrity principles

Experience in CDMO, contract testing, or client-facing environments

Experience working with viral vectors, advanced therapies, or other biologics

Experience supporting regulatory inspections or client audits

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain microbiology concepts, investigations, risks, and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders

Experience leading cross-functional projects

Experience with laboratory digitalization or automation

Lean Six Sigma, project-management, or quality-related certification

Pay Range for this position: $66,200-$99,300 per year.

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click  here .

RSREMD

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Quality
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Carlsbad, California, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Quality role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 195 comparable Senior Quality roles across 49 biopharma companies.

195Comparable roles tracked
172Currently active
49Companies hiring similar roles
27Countries represented

Salary context

58 of 195 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 $66,200/yr – $99,300/yr
Lowest disclosed · Quality Assurance Senior Specialist - Statistical Sorting · Lilly $18/hr – $35/hr (≈ $37,482–$72,592/yr)
Peer group range $55,037 – $208,845 (median $146,928)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 195 comparable roles

United States93
India12
China12
Ireland11
Singapore7
Netherlands7

+ 21 more countries

Seniority mix

195 of 195 peers have a known seniority level

Senior129
Associate Director42
Principal24

Therapeutic area mix

0 of 195 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.

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
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60%similar
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60%similar
GlaxoSmithKline LLC Zebulon, United States Senior
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60%similar
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60%similar
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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.

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%
Sr. Quality Assurance Specialist
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · La Verne, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Biogen · Research Triangle Park, United States · Senior
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.