Salary Range: 170000 to 205000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)
More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional
allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a late-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks.
With our purified, high-precision investigational cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients’ blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.
Summary:
The Associate Director of CMC Process Development and Characterization will play a pivotal role in developing and managing process development principles and practices of early- and late-stage cell therapy programs at Orca-Bio. Work will focus on activities to ensure all appropriate process design, process characterization, key quality elements, qualifications and validations are completed for Orcabio’s cell therapy drug products.
The process development/characterization activities will occur at both the Menlo Park development labs and commercial site in Sacramento. The position will work closely with other CMC functions and cross-functionally with Quality and Manufacturing Operations and will require some travel to the Sacramento site.
Responsibilities
- Manage and develop strategic direction for process development and process characterization activities within the CMC function.
- Manage and influence strategy for the development and monitoring of critical process controls and continued process verifications.
- Manages, tracks and reports on readiness/execution status for all development activities and deliverables.
- Generates documents (plans, protocols, reports) according to timelines and commitments.
- Manage and mentor career development of cell therapy scientists; organize resourcing of projects and project assignments of group members.
- Author and review protocols, technical reports, method SOPs and/or work instructions.
- Responsible for all appropriate documentation for regulatory submissions.
- Collaborate with and provide training and guidance to process validation and CMC group members in defining, executing and analyzing studies.
- Prepare and present high-quality data summaries and project progress updates to stakeholders and at cross-functional team meetings.
Desired Qualifications
- PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biology, Immunology, Cell Biology, with at least 8 years relevant industry experience. Candidates with B.S./M.S. may also be considered with demonstrated leadership track record in process development and validation
- Knowledge and broad understanding of process development principles associated with a GMP drug product manufacturing site. Good understanding of relevant ICH guidelines
- Experience working with contract service providers and consultant contributors externally to complete project assignments
- Experience in GMP cell therapy and/or biological product manufacturing, preferably with emphasis on cell therapy and individualized patient therapies is a plus
- Experience working with and leading cross functional teams such as CMC, Quality and Regulatory
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, self-starter with great interpersonal skills and strong planning/tracking skills
- Must be able to work in a fast paced, changing environment with demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing responsibilities with a high degree of self-motivation
Who we are
We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.
We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.
We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.
We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.
**all official communication will be from @orcabio.com; please beware of scams**
Notice to staffing firms
Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.