What are the responsibilities and job description for the Scientist Bioscience position at Zenith LifeScience?
Scientist
Location: Gaithersburg, MD (100% onsite)
Duration: until the end of the year
Job Description
The Bacterial Vaccines Biochemistry Team is seeking a motivated Upstream Process Development Contractor to support the optimization of microbial glycoprotein production. The successful candidate will contribute to a high-throughput screening programmed designed to identify microbial colonies with enhanced glycoprotein expression from a library of mutants.
The role will involve the use of automated liquid-handling platforms to support experimental workflows, including colony screening, sample preparation, assay set-up, and data generation. The contractor will work closely with scientists across upstream process development, molecular biology, analytical biochemistry, and automation.
This is a four-month opportunity suited to a candidate with practical experience in molecular biology techniques and immunoassays, together with an interest in developing expertise in laboratory automation, whole-genome sequencing, enzymatic glycosylation, library optimization, and high-throughput bioprocessing.
Key Responsibilities
The contractor will support the design, execution, and analysis of experiments to identify high-producing microbial colonies and optimize glycoprotein production conditions. Responsibilities will include:
The ideal candidate will have a Masters degree or PhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, bioengineering, or a related scientific discipline. Candidates with a Bachelors degree and relevant laboratory experience may also be considered, depending on their practical expertise.
The candidate should have hands-on knowledge of molecular biology techniques, microbial culture, and immunoassay methods, preferably including ELISA. Experience with bacterial expression systems, protein or glycoprotein production, colony screening, library screening, or assay development would be advantageous.
The role requires a careful and methodical approach to laboratory work, with the ability to follow protocols consistently while also contributing ideas to improve experimental workflows. The successful candidate should be comfortable working with repetitive, high-throughput experiments, analysing quantitative data, and maintaining accurate records.
Desirable Experience
Experience in one or more of the following areas would be beneficial:
The successful candidate will demonstrate strong attention to detail, effective organisation, and the ability to manage multiple experiments within agreed timelines. They should be able to work independently on defined tasks while collaborating effectively with scientists and technical colleagues.
Clear communication, reliable documentation, sound experimental judgement, and a commitment to laboratory safety and data integrity are essential. The candidate should also show enthusiasm for learning new technologies, particularly laboratory automation, genomics, glycoprotein production, and high-throughput process development.
Location: Gaithersburg, MD (100% onsite)
Duration: until the end of the year
Job Description
The Bacterial Vaccines Biochemistry Team is seeking a motivated Upstream Process Development Contractor to support the optimization of microbial glycoprotein production. The successful candidate will contribute to a high-throughput screening programmed designed to identify microbial colonies with enhanced glycoprotein expression from a library of mutants.
The role will involve the use of automated liquid-handling platforms to support experimental workflows, including colony screening, sample preparation, assay set-up, and data generation. The contractor will work closely with scientists across upstream process development, molecular biology, analytical biochemistry, and automation.
This is a four-month opportunity suited to a candidate with practical experience in molecular biology techniques and immunoassays, together with an interest in developing expertise in laboratory automation, whole-genome sequencing, enzymatic glycosylation, library optimization, and high-throughput bioprocessing.
Key Responsibilities
The contractor will support the design, execution, and analysis of experiments to identify high-producing microbial colonies and optimize glycoprotein production conditions. Responsibilities will include:
- Supporting the development and execution of high-throughput microbial colony screening workflows using automated liquid-handling systems.
- Preparing microbial cultures, samples, reagents, and assay plates in accordance with approved experimental protocols.
- Operating and learning to program automated laboratory equipment for liquid transfer, dilution, plate preparation, and sample processing.
- Screening mutant libraries and assessing glycoprotein production using appropriate analytical methods, including immunoassays such as ELISA.
- Performing routine molecular biology techniques, which may include DNA extraction, PCR, plasmid preparation, transformation, and agarose gel electrophoresis.
- Supporting the evaluation and optimization of microbial libraries to identify improved glycoprotein-producing candidates.
- Contributing to sample preparation and data generation for whole-genome sequencing and related genomic analysis activities.
- Supporting experiments involving enzymatic glycosylation and the characterization of glycoprotein production.
- Recording experimental procedures, observations, and results accurately in electronic laboratory systems and approved documentation.
- Analysing experimental data, identifying trends, and communicating findings to project team members.
- Following all relevant laboratory, biosafety, quality, data integrity, and company procedures.
- Spend most of the day supporting experiments in the lab.
- Set up and operate automated workflows and laboratory equipment.
- Plan experiments and determine the required reagents and materials.
- Prepare plates and other materials for robotic processing.
- Support high-throughput culture workflows.
- Manage or monitor automated colony-picking and sample-processing steps.
- Allow the automated system to grow samples, collect aliquots, and transfer them into assays.
- Run high-throughput assays, including ELISA/immunoassays.
- Monitor individual workflow steps and understand the importance and criticality of each operation.
- Analyze and evaluate the data generated by the automated assays.
- Follow established methods and protocols accurately.
- Work closely with the manager and project team to understand both the biology and chemistry behind the workflow.
- Maintain a strong sense of responsibility, organization, and ownership over the experiments.
- Work primarily onsite in the lab, while spending time at a desk for data analysis and experiment planning.
The ideal candidate will have a Masters degree or PhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, bioengineering, or a related scientific discipline. Candidates with a Bachelors degree and relevant laboratory experience may also be considered, depending on their practical expertise.
The candidate should have hands-on knowledge of molecular biology techniques, microbial culture, and immunoassay methods, preferably including ELISA. Experience with bacterial expression systems, protein or glycoprotein production, colony screening, library screening, or assay development would be advantageous.
The role requires a careful and methodical approach to laboratory work, with the ability to follow protocols consistently while also contributing ideas to improve experimental workflows. The successful candidate should be comfortable working with repetitive, high-throughput experiments, analysing quantitative data, and maintaining accurate records.
Desirable Experience
Experience in one or more of the following areas would be beneficial:
- High-throughput screening or automated liquid-handling platforms.
- Bacterial strain engineering, transformation, or mutant library generation.
- Recombinant protein or glycoprotein expression and characterization.
- ELISA development, optimization, or other plate-based immunoassays.
- Whole-genome sequencing sample preparation or interpretation of sequencing results.
- Enzymatic glycosylation or glycoengineering.
- Laboratory automation, liquid-handler programming, or integration of automated workflows.
- Data analysis using tools such as Excel, GraphPad Prism, or equivalent software.
- Work in an industrial, regulated, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or vaccine-development environment.
The successful candidate will demonstrate strong attention to detail, effective organisation, and the ability to manage multiple experiments within agreed timelines. They should be able to work independently on defined tasks while collaborating effectively with scientists and technical colleagues.
Clear communication, reliable documentation, sound experimental judgement, and a commitment to laboratory safety and data integrity are essential. The candidate should also show enthusiasm for learning new technologies, particularly laboratory automation, genomics, glycoprotein production, and high-throughput process development.