Scientist, Cell Therapy Process Development (In Vivo CAR-T)

Working with Us

Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren't words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You'll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us .

The Cell Therapy Thematic Research Center is one of BMS's differentiated research platforms delivering innovative therapies to patients. Our mission is to drive leadership in the use of cellular therapies to harness the power of the immune system in treating hematologic malignancies, solid cancers, and autoimmune disease. More specifically, our discovery and translational scientists are focused on developing next-generation, engineered cell-based therapies. The team is committed to discovering and developing transformative therapies that harness the power of the immune system to improve patient outcomes.

Within CT TRC, the Cell Therapy Process Research and Engineering (CT-PRE) team works at the exciting interface of engineered T-cell biology and cell therapy process development, in close collaboration with colleagues across the Research and Development organizations, with the goal of advancing novel innovative platforms from early concept design towards implementation for pipeline assets.

Position Summary:

The CT-PRE team is seeking a Scientist to help translate next-generation cell therapies from early research into robust development platforms. The Scientist will design and execute laboratory experiments both independently and collaboratively, contributing to a highly interactive, matrixed, agile, team-driven environment. The ideal candidate will have prior industry experience with process development, preferably in viral vector production for CAR-T therapy.

In the role as a Scientist within the CT-PRE team, the ideal candidate will apply scientific principles to develop scalable processes to enable in vivo CAR-T therapy platforms. This includes:

• Designing and conducting laboratory experiments to evaluate gene delivery and cell engineering strategies for CAR-T manufacturing feasibility

• Leading workstreams and experiments focused on the optimization and implementation of scalable lentiviral vector production for in vivo CAR-T therapy platforms

• Documenting experimental workflows, results, and deviations in electronic laboratory notebooks to ensure reproducibility and process understanding

• Performing data analysis and communicating findings clearly to enable informed decision-making by research and development teams

• Participating in cross-functional project teams and effectively communicating CT-PRE activities, data, and recommendations

• Collaborating closely with team members to coordinate experimental execution and deliver study outcomes

• Training and mentoring junior team members as appropriate

• Demonstrating strong scientific rigor through critical thinking, problem-solving, troubleshooting, and attention to detail

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree

• 5+ years of academic and / or industry experience

Or

• Master's Degree

• 3+ years of academic and / or industry experience

Or

• Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree in the Life Sciences

• No experience necessary

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with viral vector process development, including upstream production (e.g., suspension culture, transfection parameters, bioreactor scale-up) and downstream purification and concentration strategies

• Experience developing and optimizing bioprocesses that are intentionally designed for scalability into STR culture and manufacturability

• Strong understanding of viral transduction mechanisms, tropism and integration

• Proficiency with aseptic mammalian cell culture, preferably including primary T cell culture, activation and expansion

• Familiarity with analytical characterization and critical quality attributes for an in vivo CAR-T drug product (titer, purity, potency, sterility)

• Understanding of T-cell biology and immunology relevant to CAR-T - activation, transduction efficiency, phenotype and functional assays

• Experience with T-cell manufacturing workflows - apheresis material handling, activation, gene delivery, expansion, formulation

• Understanding of statistical design of experiments methodology and data analysis for process optimization

• Familiarity