Director of msat - united kingdom, didcot, oxfordshire

*the company*

vaccitech plc is a fast-growing biotech company. at only five years old we already have a development portfolio of nine programmes, a partnered product that is in commercial production and that has seen more than 3 billion doses administered worldwide and an ipo behind us. we are a publicly-listed clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that spun out of the university of oxford's jenner institute, one of the most prestigious vaccine research centres in the world. we discover and develop immunotherapeutic products and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer. our achievements include co-inventing and jointly developing our covid-19 vaccine candidate vtp-900, now vaxzevria, which we assigned to oxford university innovation to facilitate the licensing of those rights to astrazeneca. we run clinical studies to explore treatments for patients with hbv and hpv infections and are developing rapid and scalable manufacturing processes for our platforms.

in december 2021, vaccitech acquired avidea technologies with exciting product candidates for oncology and autoimmunity based on the innovative snapvax platform, which has demonstrated unprecedented control over t cell induction. this gives us us operational presence in maryland, complements vaccitech's established capabilities and reinforces our position as a fast-growing global leader in immunotherapies and vaccines. from march 2022 vaccitech's uk headquarters will be moving to a state-of-the-art facility in the uk's leading science and innovation campus at harwell. we conduct research globally and have ambitious plans in the uk and us, where we will continue to grow our teams over the coming months and years.

*the role*

reporting to the vice president of manufacturing, the director of msat will be responsible for the development, characterisation, scale up and transfer of manufacturing processes to support the manufacturing of vaccitech's viral platforms. you will lead the vaccitech msat team and work closely with contract manufacturing organisations (cmos) to ensure robust processes are in place to manufacture viral vectors to support vaccitech's clinical trials.

as vaccitech approaches phase three trials we are establishing our own pilot plant in our new state of the art facility in harwell which will be capable of producing drug substance on a 50l scale. you will join us at this exciting stage of our growth and take full ownership of the msat function as we prepare for this significant milestone. your role will include overall responsibility of technology transfer of manufacturing processes to and from cmos; scale up and scale down of manufacturing processes; process optimisation and characterisation; and process development activities.

you will take immediate responsibility for a growing team which consists of a principle scientist and several scientists and associate scientists, ensuring staff, consultants and contractors operate to the company's quality standards, and act in accordance with company policies and procedures as appropriate.

additionally you will ensure the provision of process development data packages are appropriate to support regulatory submissions and to ensure activities are conducted in accordance with the company's quality systems and policies. you will provide technical support to cmos for production of gmp material. you will author and technical review process transfer and process validation documentation as well as authoring and reviewing manufacturing sections of regulatory submissions. you will also maintain a strong internal level of technical knowledge, understanding and practical capability to ensure control of both internal and external manufacturing expertise.

*experience and education required*

the successful candidate will hold either a masters degree or phd in a life science discipline and possess between 6 and 10 years' relevant work industry experience, including experience with vaccines or viral vectors. you will have knowledge and experience of gmp regulatory requirements for the development of vaccine candidates, and work with viral vectors. you will also have knowledge and experience with aspects of biological manufacturing processes, process validation for bla, maa, process optimisation, characterisation and gmp production. a successful track record of outsourcing to cmos is essential.

*what we can offer you*

vaccitech is a great place to work. we encourage an entirely flat structure with an open-door policy to the senior leadership team. our employees agree the culture and working environment is one of the best things about our business. this role would suit an experienced manufacturing professional seeking to join a rapidly growing biotech at an exciting stage of growth. as part of a small high growth business you will get the opportunity to be involved in many different areas and our rapid growth trajectory means you will have the opportunity to grow with us. we offer flexible forms of hybrid working, stock options to all employees, 25 days annual holidays increasing with length of service, an axa healthcare plan, life insurance and up to 5% pension contributions matched by the company.

*notice to recruiters*

vaccitech's internal talent acquisition leads recruitment and employment for vaccitech. unsolicited resumes sent to vaccitech from recruiters do not constitute any type of relationship between the recruiter and vaccitech and do not obligate vaccitech to pay fees should we hire from those resumes. vaccitech operate a preferred list of recruitment suppliers, any and all enquiries about joining us as a supplier should be directed to vaccitech's ta team. we ask that external recruiters and/ or agencies not contact or present candidates directly to our hiring manager or employees.

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