Scientist II

100% Onsite in North Chicago
1 year contract position

What are the top 3-5 skills, experience or education required for this position:

1. Bioreactor/bioprocess experience

2. Cell culture experience

3. Bioassay experience

4. Scale-up experience

5. Chemical engineering or bioengineering education (BS+4, MS+2, PhD+0)

TheSkincare Aesthetics Bioprocess Innovation Center (SABIC) is located in North Chicago and is a joint effort between Skincare Aesthetics R&D and Bioprocess Engineering R&D towards bioprocess discovery related to SkinMedica's cell-based technologies for topical skincare.

The incumbent will help develop and optimize protocols for 3D bioreactor cell culture work using a human adherant primary cell line coupled with microcarriers as well as more traditional 2D cell culture. This role will focus on bioprocess optimization and secretome characterization.

Responsibilities:
Conduct laboratory experimentation for cell culture and bioprocess development, optimization, and scale-up in a quest to innovate new cell-based active materials and processes.

• Stirred-tank bioreactor bioprocess development and optimization
• Support scale-up from 100 mL to 15+L cultures
• Evaluate and optimize feeding process, including continuous perfusion feed system
• Daily checks and maintenance through bioprocess experiments (like glucose/lactate monitoring, viability and proliferation tracking etc)
• Perform bioassays to characterize secretome product (like ELISA, flow cytometry, immunofluorescent imaging etc)
• Assist with sample prep and working with collaborators for secretome characterization
• Assist in analysis and interpretation of proteomic, lipidomic, and metabolomic data
• Regular updates through oral presentations and written technical reports

Education and Experience

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Biology, or other relevant scientific discipline with BS and typically 5+ years of experience, MS and typically 2+ years of experience, or PhD and typically 0+ years of experience in industry
• Must have strong fundamentals in cell biology
• Must have hands-on experience with cell culture
• Desirable to have experience working with bioreactors, process optimization, and scale-up
• Proven ability to adjust accordingly in response to shifting priorities
• Proven ability to design and carry through multiple experiments in parallel