Associate Principal Scientist, Sterile Drug Product Commercialization

As part of Our Company’s Manufacturing Division, the Sterile Drug Product Commercialization group provides the technical process leadership and laboratory capabilities for late stage and commercial drug product processes for biologics and combination products.

It is the division’s leader in sterile product and process development, responsible for late-stage commercialization activities including process scale up, technology transfer to internal and external sites, process validation, authoring of regulatory submissions and support of significant manufacturing investigations.  The group is responsible for establishing the science, engineering and knowledge required for today’s innovative and accelerated commercialization of biologics and combination products.

We are seeking an experienced Associate Principal Scientist to advance and commercialize biologics pipeline program. As a member of the biologics drug product team, the Associate Principal Scientist will have a key focus on driving excellence in process characterization, scale up, transfer and process validation activities.

• →Leads and/or serves on cross functional biologics drug product (DP) working groups and manages DP activities through filing and Process Performance Qualification (PPQ), including registration stability study execution, process characterization plan and execution, tech transfer control strategy, process development, PPQ readiness, PAI (Pre‐Approval Inspection) readiness, approval, launch and post‐launch support.
• →Ensures commercialization programs meet requirements related to science, quality, reliability, schedule, and cost.
• →Drives strategic initiatives (technical and/or business process related) in the department and with partner groups, that enable more efficient and rapid commercialization of innovative products
• →Provides mentorship, technical oversight and strategic guidance to employees. Uses advanced experience gained on scientific/technical issues to guide others to address non routine and/or difficult issues. 
• →Develops a process and product development plan. Influences decisions related to primary packaging and combination product design.
• →Responsible for the design and execution of DP development and commercialization studies, new product introduction and process validation at commercial sites.
• →Ensures fit-for-purpose scale-down models are developed and employed. Establishes and validates platform engineering and scientific models for sterile product and process commercialization.
• →Innovates and drives best practices for commercial site tech transfer, facility fit and development of the DP control strategy.  Includes the classification of process parameters, performance parameters, operating ranges, in-process controls.  Drives and influences process demonstration and qualification (PPQ) and shelf-life strategies.
• →Influences CMC regulatory strategy and is accountable for DP CMC sections of filing. Reviews regulatory strategy and filing readiness and supports preparations for agency meetings. Authors and reviews regulatory submissions.
• →Drives continuous and phase appropriate process optimization towards standardized platforms for liquid, lyophilized, and combination product presentations.
• →Establishes and fosters a culture of high performance, out of the box thinking, innovation and learning, empowerment.

• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering Bio-engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or related field with 10 years of relevant experience; or
• Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering  Bio-engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or related field with 8 years of relevant experience; or
• Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering  Bio-engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or related field with 4 years of relevant experience

• Experience with drug product process development, optimization, and/or process characterization of biologics
• Experience with at scale biologics drug product manufacturing and fill finish operations
• Technical expertise in sterile drug product fill finish related manufacturing processes for large molecules, including laboratory and/or fundamental models for key unit operations. 
• Experience with technology transfer and scale-up of processes to pilot and/or manufacturing scales.
• Experience in biologics drug product fill finish process optimization, scale-up and technology transfer of sterile products to pilot/commercial
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.  Ability to effectively articulate understanding of process science, in order to drive decision making, impact assessments, design of studies, etc, in a multi-disciplinary team environment

​Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Operations experience in the manufacturing of potent and sterile drug products, at pilot and/or commercial scale.
• Experience with late-stage commercialization of biologics programs
• Working knowledge of regulatory requirements for commercialization and registration of sterile drug products, including application of Quality by Design principles
• Working knowledge of current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) for manufacturing of sterile dosage forms and current ICH Quality norms, as applied in Manufacturing Science and Technology or Technical Operations.
• Working knowledge of statistical methods for DOE design and data analysis, statistical process control (SPC), multivariate analysis (MVA), and/or process analytical technologies (PAT) techniques for manufacturing processes
• Experience in Data Analytics, Computer Modeling, and Digital Applications (e.g. 3-D printing).
• Working understanding of analytical methods to characterize biologics and other sterile drug products

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Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.