Senior Scientist, Virology

Position Overview

Located at our US headquarters in RTP, North Carolina, the Senior Scientist, Virology position will have expertise in key virology skills, including viral culture techniques, virus identification, virus-host interaction analysis, and be familiar with the principles of detection of adventitious viruses in biological materials.

Supervisory and Leadership

Supervise, participate in lab activities and act as SME for Virology. Collaborate with the Team Lead/Director to train, develop and coordinate daily laboratory tasks for the team. Lead development, optimization, and execution of virology assays including TCID50, rcAAV, infectivity, and neutralization assays. Oversee viral propagation, mammalian cell culture, and assay troubleshooting. Generate, interpret data and troubleshoot assays as needed. Design and implement experimental approaches aligned to client study objectives. Handle multiple projects at the same time and ensure on-time testing and delivery of analytical results to clients. Communicate effectively with clients providing scientific expertise to projects.

Essential Job Functions

• Day to day performance and supervision of viral detection assays as per EP 5.2.3 and EP 2.6.16.
• Supervision of lab technicians and scientists in the execution of diverse virology assays including assays for adventitious viruses and vector quantitation assays with endpoints such as flow cytometry and ELISA.
• Tracking, trending, and monitoring of assay performance metrics and maintenance over time, in compliance with Solvias’ Quality Management System/improvement initiatives.
• Consulting with clients on specific attributes of samples, processing, and troubleshooting prior/during testing of biological matrices to ensure optimal testing strategies for product types.
• Day-to-day liaison with the commercial and project management teams to ensure appropriate inputs for costing and quoting of work and flawless execution of work, along with suitably prioritized timelines and deliverables for departmental projects and revenue streams.
• The ability to work with cross-disciplinary teams across the sites in the Solvias organization is a must, and communication and presentation skills should be excellent.

Qualifications

• M.S. or Ph.D. Life Sciences with 5+ years relevant experience or B.A/B.S. with 10+ years relevant experience.
• Experience working on viral & cell culture, vector design, cell line development, and gene editing technologies in a GMP, GLP, or GCP environment.
• Proficiency in viral and cell culture maintenance and quantification methods is essential. Additionally, experience with vector design, cell line development, and gene editing technologies will be critical in optimizing therapeutic applications.
• Strong knowledge of regulatory compliance and quality assurance processes in CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, & Controls) of Cell and Gene Therapies, biologics, and vaccines.
• Experience in method development, qualification & validation of CGT, biologics, vaccines, and emerging technologies.