Senior Principal Scientist, Microbial Process Operations

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profile Job Location:

Rahway, NJ - USA

profile Monthly Salary: $ 187000 - 294400
Posted on: 17 hours ago
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

Job Description

The Microbial Process Operations (MPO) Team is seeking a Senior Principal Scientist with expertise in microbial process development for the production of enzymes used in biocatalysis. Our team is part of Continuous & Expression Technologies (CET) within the Process Research & Development Enabling Technologies (PR&D ET) group focused on advancing technologies for the manufacturing of diverse biomolecules including novel biotherapeutics vaccines and engineered enzymes.

As a senior scientific leader the successful candidate will shape strategy drive innovation and ensure robust scalable and compliant microbial fermentation processes that meet or exceed performance targets. This position offers the opportunity to contribute directly to our companys mission to deliver transformative medicines and sustainable manufacturing solutions through cutting-edge microbial technologies.

The ideal candidate for this position should be a recognized leader in the field with demonstrated success in process development for the production of industrial enzymes. This role involves collaboration with cross functional teams to address challenges throughout the entire lifecycle of enzyme manufacturing from discovery to commercial supply. As a senior member of the team the applicant will also contribute to setting and executing the scientific strategy for enzyme fermentation process development as well as helping to recruit and develop talent within the team.

The chosen candidate should possess strong interpersonal communication and collaboration skills and should embrace and model our core values of diversity and inclusion and foster a supportive culture where all employees can thrive.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Partner with functional area project teams and subject matter experts to establish and implement the scientific strategy for upstream and downstream process development optimization and technical innovation.

  • Provide scientific oversight for the microbial process team leading the planning implementation and documentation of experiments for the adoption and development of innovative technologies.

  • Lead the design and execution of bench scale process development experiments to meet various project requirements with the ultimate aim of delivering robust processes for scale-up and manufacturing.

  • Work collaboratively to proactively identify risks and associated solutions to ensure on time delivery of project deliverables.

  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support technology transfer scale-up activities and process robustness.

  • Mentor junior scientists to become our companys next generation of scientific leaders.

  • Champion laboratory safety compliance and best practices fostering a culture of scientific and technical excellence.

  • Represent our companys externally through conference presentations publications and other relevant venues.

Education Minimum Requirement:

  • PhD with 15 years of relevant industry experience

  • Masters degree with 18 years of relevant industry experience or

  • Bachelors degree with 20 years of relevant industry experience in chemical engineering bioengineering biological sciences or related fields.

Requirements:

  • Demonstrated success in fermentation process development and optimization ideally in the area of industrial enzymes.

  • Excellent problem solving skills to overcome both technical and non-technical challenges.

  • Demonstrated success leading scale-down model development along with scale-up and technology transfer from R&D to pilot and commercial manufacturing scales.

  • Demonstrated success in leading projects or programs and being leveraged as a technical resource across multiple areas.

  • Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor fellow researchers.

  • Excellent organizational documentation and problem-solving skills with a strong commitment to maintaining rigorous safety and quality standards.

  • Strong track record of peer-reviewed publications and research presentations.

  • Ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

  • Knowledge in bioreactor and process in-silico design / modeling.

  • Familiarity with drug development cycle especially the CMC (Chemistry Manufacturing and Control) aspect with skills to help advance our digital effort in this area.

  • Familiarity with biocatalysis protein engineering biotherapeutics and / or vaccines is advantageous.

  • Knowledge and experience in downstream process development such as flocculation microfiltration ultrafiltration lyophilization and spray drying.

  • Understanding of microbial strain development and genetic engineering techniques to support process optimization.

PRD

Required Skills:

Biodesign Biodesign Biological Sciences Biomarker Assay Development Biomedical Sciences Chemical Engineering Collaborative Communications Communication Computer Science Cross-Functional Teamwork Diagnostics Development Drug Development Ethics Exercises Judgment Experimentation Flocculation Flow Cytometry Immunochemistry Laboratory Safety Machine Learning (ML) Mentorship Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Professional Networking Project Management Protein Engineering 3 more

Preferred Skills:

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US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our company is committed to inclusion ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race color age religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin protected veteran status disability status or other applicable legally protected a federal contractor we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws visit:

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EEOC GINA Supplement

We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together talented and committed people with diverse experiences perspectives skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas broad experiences backgrounds and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one anothers thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights including under California Colorado and other US State Acts

U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5 2023 employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week Monday - Thursday although the specific days may vary by site or organization with Friday designated as a remote-working day unless business critical tasks require an on-site Hybrid work model does not apply to and daily in-person attendance is required for field-based positions; facility-based manufacturing-based or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as remote.

The salary range for this role is

$187000.00 - $294400.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employees 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 can apply for this role through (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only:We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only:We will consider for employment all qualified applicants including those with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws including the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
Merck & Co. Inc. Rahway NJ USA also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC Rahway NJ USA does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place introductions are position specific. Please no phone calls or emails.

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

01/23/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFOREthe listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.


Required Experience:

Staff IC

Job DescriptionThe Microbial Process Operations (MPO) Team is seeking a Senior Principal Scientist with expertise in microbial process development for the production of enzymes used in biocatalysis. Our team is part of Continuous & Expression Technologies (CET) within the Process Research & Developm...
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Key Skills

  • Machine Learning
  • Python
  • Data Science
  • AI
  • R
  • Research Experience
  • Sensors
  • Drug Discovery
  • Research & Development
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Data Analysis Skills
  • Toxicology Experience

About Company

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Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA is known as “Merck” in the United States, Canada & Puerto Rico. We are known as “MSD” in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America & Asia Pacific. We are a global biopharmaceutical leader with a diverse portfolio of prescription medicine ... View more

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