MSAT Scientist, Cell Culture

Are you ready to turn complex cell culture science into robust, commercial-scale reality that delivers lifesaving medicines to people with rare and devastating conditions? Do you thrive at the interface of lab experimentation and manufacturing, where your decisions directly shape yield, reliability, and speed to patients?

As an MSAT Specialist, Cell Culture, you will be a core driver of process robustness and technical excellence from bench to plant. You will design and execute data-rich studies, scale up new products, and de-risk commercial operations through smart experimentation, rigorous analysis, and decisive problem solving. Working closely with manufacturing, quality, and regulatory partners, you will translate insights into action and ensure our processes stay reliable, compliant, and ready for what comes next.

Accountabilities:
- Process Robustness and Optimization: Lead, design, and execute lab studies that strengthen process consistency and performance, assess new materials and technologies, and deliver improvements that scale reliably to commercial manufacturing in line with regulatory expectations and industry best practices.
- Scale-Up and New Product Introduction: Plan and run satellite studies from engineering and technical batches to deepen process understanding, advise on operating ranges, and increase technical success probabilities while minimizing risk during scale-up and product launches.
- Investigation and CAPA Support: Design targeted experiments to investigate deviations, establish root causes, and develop durable CAPAs that protect supply and compliance; support studies that underpin regulatory changes.
- Data Analytics and Reporting: Analyze complex datasets using appropriate statistical tools, interpret findings, and deliver clear technical reports and presentations to cross-functional stakeholders to inform decisions and drive alignment.
- Plant-Floor Execution: Generate robust protocols and lead execution of plant-supporting and technical studies on the manufacturing floor at commercial scale, ensuring safe, efficient, and compliant delivery.
- Statistical Experimentation: Apply DOE and related statistical methodologies using tools such as JMP to design efficient studies, extract signal from noise, and make defensible, data-driven recommendations.
- Lifecycle Ownership: Maintain deep knowledge of product and process history across the commercial lifecycle, connecting development insights to operational reality to sustain and improve performance over time.
- Regulatory and Inspection Readiness: Present and defend scientific approaches in written and verbal form, including during regulatory inspections and in response to information requests.
- Compliance and Safety: Ensure adherence to cGMP, EHS policies, and business regulations; actively participate in risk assessments, audits, and incident investigations to uphold a strong quality and safety culture.
- Flexible Support: Periodically work outside standard business hours, including weekends, to support ongoing lab and plant studies critical to supply continuity.

Essential Skills/Experience:
- Demonstrated ability to lead, design, and execute cell culture lab studies for process robustness, optimization, and characterization with a line of sight to commercial manufacturing and regulatory requirements.
- Experience supporting large-scale manufacturing scale-up and new product introductions, including planning and executing satellite studies from engineering and technical batches to inform operating conditions and mitigate risk.
- Proficiency in designing experiments to support investigations, resolve process deviations, perform root cause analysis, and implement CAPAs for commercial operations and regulatory change studies.
- Strength in analyzing complex datasets, interpreting results, and producing clear, detailed technical reports and presentations for diverse audiences.
- Proven capability to generate protocols and lead execution of plant-supporting and technical studies at commercial scale.
- Hands-on use of statistical tools and DOE methodologies with software such as JMP to drive robust experimental design and data-driven assessments.
- Critical thinking with an entrepreneurial mindset; ability to integrate varied data sources to solve complex problems and sustain/improve manufacturing processes.
- Strong communication skills to convey complex scientific concepts to stakeholders with varying levels of technical depth.
- Commitment to maintaining product and process knowledge across the entire commercial lifecycle, including development history.
- Ability to present and defend technical and scientific strategies in written and verbal formats, including in regulatory contexts.
- Knowledge of and adherence to cGMP, EHS requirements, and participation in risk assessments, audits, and incident investigations.
- Willingness to periodically work out of normal business hours or on a weekend rota to support critical studies.

Desirable Skills/Experience:
- Experience with commercial-scale mammalian cell culture operations (e.g., single-use systems, fed-batch or perfusion) and technology transfer across sites.
- Familiarity with process analytical technologies, automation/data historians, and continued process verification approaches.
- Practical exposure to bioreactor scale-up principles (e.g., kLa, P/V, tip speed) and translation of scale-down models to plant conditions.
- Additional statistical expertise (e.g., multivariate analysis, predictive modeling) and proficiency in tools beyond JMP.
- Experience preparing regulatory submissions or supporting inspections for biologics manufacturing.
- Track record of cross-functional leadership in complex, time-sensitive technical programs.

Why AstraZeneca:
Here, your work is guided by the real experiences of people living with rare and devastating diseases, bringing purpose and urgency to every technical decision. You will collaborate in an environment that blends the agility of biotech with the scale and resources of a global leader—where unexpected teams get in the same room, challenge assumptions, and unleash bold thinking. We invest in cutting-edge science and empower you with autonomy, tailored development, and peers who value kindness alongside ambition. Your expertise in cell culture will directly strengthen reliable supply and help deliver transformative therapies to those who need them most.

Call to Action:
If you’re ready to own the science, shape robust commercial cell culture processes, and accelerate life-changing medicines to patients, step forward and make your impact with us today!

Date Posted

30-Jan-2026

Closing Date

13-Feb-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.