Job Information
Merck •Senior Scientist – Discovery Vaccine Bioanalytics in West Point, Pennsylvania
Job Requirements
We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Scientist to join the Discovery and Translational team within Pre-Clinical Development Regulated Bioanalytics at West Point. The primary role of the successful candidate will be to design and develop immunology-based bioanalytical assays in support of early vaccine programs. The individual will be responsible to contribute with limited supervision to all aspects of assay development, technology transfer, and/or troubleshooting. The ideal candidate will have solid laboratory experience in the field of immunology and/or cell biology, a broad skill set encompassing working with primary immune cells to developing bioanalytical assays capable to meet clinical assay requirement. The candidate should be current on state-of-the art technologies and is expected to champion evaluation of new technologies and optimize processes. Providing expert technical representation on multidisciplinary teams will be expected.
Responsibilities
Provide scientific input to the design and execution of ligand binding assays (LBA) such as ELISA and/or cell-based assays such as luciferase reporter assays
Responsible for the execution of method development, troubleshooting and/or pre-clinical/clinical sample analysis as needed
Contribute to the assessment and implementation of new analytical technologies
Serve as an internal subject matter expert on developed assays
Accountability for generated the data
Work Experience
Education Minimum Requirement:
PhD in Biological Sciences or related area with 0-3 years, or a MS degree with 4+ years, or a BS degree with 7+ years
Required Skills:
Critical thinking and good trouble-shooting skills
Experience in general cell biology methods including maintenance of cell lines and/or primary cells
Experience with immunoassays such as ELISA, AlphaLisa, multiplexed LBA on MSD and/or Luminex platforms
Adherence to basic safety procedures in a BSL2 laboratory
Good verbal and written communication
Ability to follow procedures and thoroughly document experiments
Communicate results effectively in presentations to stakeholders in partner organizations or at external scientific meetings, to write technical reports, and to participate on cross-functional teams
Preferred Experience and Skills:
Experience with cell-based assays in the context of immune response characterization such as viral neutralization, PRNT/VRNT/FRNT, ELISpot, or multi-color flow cytometry
Prior experience with PBMC isolation, human and/or mouse tumor tissue processing
Experience in molecular biology technique such as DNA and RNA isolation, qPCR, digital PCR, RNAseq, NGS, or CRISPR
Familiarity with liquid handlers and other automation platforms for sample preparation and assay process
Strong attention to detail with the ability to multi-task and handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously
#PCDBioAnalytical
Requisition ID: P-100545