Position Title: Process Development Associate
Work Location: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 91320
Assignment Duration: 1 Year (Possible Extension)
Work Arrangement: 100% On-Site
 
Position Summary
The Pre-Pivotal Drug Substance Technologies organization develops, characterizes, and supports clinical drug substance manufacturing processes for all early-stage programs in the portfolio.
This lab-based position is located at our Thousand Oaks, CA site and is part of an integrated bioprocess development group where cell culture and purification scientists collaborate to advance a rich and dynamic pipeline. With a biology-first approach, this role provides a unique opportunity to work across multiple modalities, including antibodies, BiTEs, oncolytic viruses, bispecifics, and siRNAs.
 
Key Responsibilities

• Support the development, characterization, scale-up, and optimization of upstream and downstream processes to enable clinical advancement of programs.
• Design and execute bench-scale experiments across the end-to-end drug substance process, including both cell culture and purification operations.
• Apply platform approaches and utilize strong problem-solving skills to address day-to-day experimental challenges.
• Contribute innovative ideas and approaches to technology development, including process automation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Expand expertise in both cell culture and purification to further contribute to the integrated bioprocess group.
• Conduct mammalian cell culture experiments at multiple scales (shake flasks and bioreactors).
• Implement purification operations—primarily filtration and chromatography—at bench and pilot scale.
• Accurately document experimental data in lab notebooks and electronic systems.
• Analyze experimental results, summarize findings, and present to project teams.
• Author technical reports and contribute to regulatory filings as needed.
• Participate in technology development projects to enhance process reliability and efficiency.

 
Qualifications & Experience

• Education:
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, or
  • Associate degree with 4+ years of relevant scientific experience.
  • Preferred: Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, or related field with a demonstrated record of excellence.
• Technical Skills:
  • Basic understanding and hands-on experience with protein chromatography and filtration processes.
  • Experience with data analytical tools such as Excel or Spotfire.
  • Familiarity with statistical analysis and programming tools (e.g., JMP, R, Python) is a plus.
• Experience:
  • Minimum 1+ year of hands-on industry lab experience in cell culture or protein purification (beyond academic training).
  • Prior exposure to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or related industries preferred.
• Soft Skills:
  • Strong attention to detail and critical thinking abilities.
  • Effective collaboration within a diverse, cross-functional team.
  • Self-motivated with the ability to adapt in a dynamic environment.

  
 
At SPECTRAFORCE, we are committed to maintaining a workplace that ensures fair compensation and wage transparency in adherence with all applicable state and local laws. This position’s starting pay is: $ 27.00/hr.