Associate Director, Viral Vector Process Development, Upstream
Core
Lead end-to-end upstream design, development, and scale-up of Lentiviral Vector (LVV) manufacturing processes for AstraZeneca's Cell Therapy portfolio, focusing on suspension bioreactor platforms from research through commercial readiness.
Role type
Associate Director, Viral Vector Process Development (Upstream)
Builds
Lentiviral Vector manufacturing processes for clinical and commercial Cell Therapy modalities
Domain
Biopharmaceuticals / Cell Therapy / Viral Vector Manufacturing
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | dashboards & analysis | research | client delivery | infrastructure | physical/clinical work
Required skills
Upstream LVV process development on suspension platforms, Scale-up and scale-down strategies, Statistical DOE and MVDA, cGMP manufacturing operations, Team leadership and mentoring, Vendor and CDMO management, Process automation and PAT
Preferred skills
Clinical/commercial scale delivery of suspension-based LVV processes, Upstream-analytical interface expertise, Regulatory submission preparation for manufacturing sections, Lean practices implementation
Technologies
Single-use suspension bioreactors, Process automation systems, PAT tools, Digital lab systems
Responsibilities
Lead platform and product specific LVV upstream processes optimized for suspension cell culture, Design scale-up strategies from bench to 50–200 L single-use bioreactors, Oversee design, planning, and execution of upstream studies and establish design space, Provide mentoring and technical guidance to junior team members, Ensure generation of high-quality technical documentation aligned with cGMP principles, Perform process performance trending, root cause analysis, and corrective/preventive actions
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC with strategic leadership