Senior Scientist – Bacterial Vaccine Discovery Full-time

Senior Scientist In The Bacterial Vaccine Discovery Group

Here at AstraZeneca, you'll have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives every day. As one of the world's premier pharmaceutical companies, our mission is centered on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. As a Senior Scientist in the Bacterial Vaccine Discovery group in Gaithersburg, MD, you'll play a pivotal role in channeling our scientific capabilities to make a positive impact on changing patients' lives.

AstraZeneca has a multifaceted environment that furthers collaboration and innovation. We attract top minds, and we cultivate and build top talents. If you are swift to action, confident to lead, willing to collaborate and curious about what science can do, then you're our kind of person.

The Bacterial Vaccine Discovery group in early Vaccines and Immune Therapies at AstraZeneca is developing new and innovative vaccines against bacterial pathogens. We're constantly pushing the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients, with a passion for discovery and a pipeline to show for it. We're pioneering innovative research and using various, novel platforms to deliver vaccines against viral and bacterial pathogens. We're industry-leading in immunology, protein engineering and translational science. We offer a unique and strong collaborative network as part of the AstraZeneca family, as together we explore synergies between small and large molecules.

AstraZeneca has a dynamic environment that fosters collaboration and innovation. We attract top minds and we nurture and build top talents.

Major duties and responsibilities:

• Design, develop and execute in vitro assays and in vivo models to test bacterial vaccine candidates.

The ideal candidate is expected to work with a PhD with postdoc experience or Master's degree with 10-15 years of equivalent experience in bacteriology, immunology, assay development, and in-vivo work, minimum supervision, demonstrate strong organization, and excellent communication skills.

Minimum qualifications:

• A PhD with postdoc experience or Master's degree with 10-15 years of equivalent experience in bacteriology, immunology, assay development, and in-vivo work
• The candidate must be an effective oral and written communicator with a demonstrable track record of quality publications.
• The individual must be dedicated to maintaining high laboratory standards, good record keeping, with high regard to quality and safety and must possess good organizational and interpersonal skills in a highly interactive multidisciplinary team-oriented environment.

Desired skills include, but are not limited to:

• Strong experience with relevant immunological techniques to characterize the humoral immune response against bacterial vaccines (western blot, ELISA, bacteria cell-based ELISA, Flow/surface staining)
• Experience with developing and executing assays to assess antibody function against bacteria (opsonophagocytic killing assay, serum bactericidal assay, adhesion/invasion assay, toxin neutralization assay)
• Experience with and willingness to perform mouse models (e.g. intraperitoneal, intranasal, intravenous injections, necropsy)
• Bacterial manipulation experience (cloning, knock-out, gain of function experiments, bacterial target purification) would be a plus
• Experience with vaccine platforms (polysaccharide conjugates, mRNA/LNP, antigen formulations) would be a plus

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There's no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration, and always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development. We're on an exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare.

So, what's next?

Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can't wait to hear from you!