Scientist – Bacterial Antigen Process Improvement and Technical Transfer

Zoetis is the world’s largest Manufacturer and Supplier of Animal Pharmaceuticals.

At Zoetis in Lincoln, NE, we manufacture high quality medicines for dogs, cats, and livestock. Our plant has been recognized as one of the Nebraska’s Safest Companies, with a long-standing presence in the Lincoln community. We are a clean, modern site that continues to innovate and grow.

Benefits Include:

4 weeks accrued paid vacation and 13 paid holidays.

401(k) match with company profit sharing.

Tuition reimbursement and Student Loan repayment program.

Great Health, personal, and family benefits starting day 1.

Position Summary

Support Zoetis’ mission to serve customers by ensuring robust and reliable bacterial antigen manufacturing through scientific innovation and continuous process improvement.

The Scientist – Bacterial Antigen Process Improvement and Technical Transfer will provide technical leadership and hands-on expertise for commercial-scale microbial fermentation and purification processes producing Active Biological Ingredients (ABIs) for vaccines. This role involves designing and executing lab-scale studies aimed at enhancing process robustness, optimizing media, improving yields, and reducing costs. Additionally, the scientist will lead technical transfer activities for new and existing products from VMRD into manufacturing, ensuring scalability, compliance, and seamless integration into ongoing production. A key responsibility is to investigate and write detailed assessments for process deviations, collaborating with quality and manufacturing teams to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.

Success in this role depends on effective collaboration with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, engineering, regulatory, and R&D teams to drive process improvements and guarantee the consistent supply of high-quality bacterial antigens.

Hours: 1st Shift, 7:15am – 3:45pm

Position Responsibilities

• Lead and execute process improvement projects focused on upstream microbial fermentation and downstream purification processes.
• Design and conduct lab-scale experiments to optimize media formulations, improve yields, and enhance process robustness.
• Manage technical transfer activities for new and existing bacterial antigen products, ensuring smooth scale-up and commercial manufacturing integration.
• Apply process understanding of scale-up and scale-down principles for bacterial antigen production, facilitating smooth transitions between lab, pilot, and commercial scales.
• Investigate process deviations and author thorough assessments, working closely with quality and manufacturing teams to implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, including protocols, batch records, and transfer packages compliant with cGMP standards.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, engineering, regulatory and R&D to support process improvements and technology implementation.
• Utilize digital tools and data analysis to monitor process performance and troubleshoot operational issues.
• Stay current with industry trends, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies relevant to bacterial antigen manufacturing.

Education and Experience

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
• 2 to 5 years of experience in microbial fermentation, bioprocess development, or related manufacturing support.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a relevant scientific or engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in bacterial antigen or biopharmaceutical process development and technical transfer.
• Strong knowledge of upstream and downstream bioprocessing, media optimization, and GMP manufacturing practices.
• Experience with Design of Experiments (DOE) methodologies for process optimization.
• Experience with process deviation investigations, root cause analysis, and statistical analysis.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements (FDA, USDA, EU) and quality systems.

Technical Skills and Competencies Required

• Hands-on experience with commercial-scale microbial fermentation and purification processes.
• Proficient in designing and executing experimental studies for process optimization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Excellent technical writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a cross-functional team environment.
• Knowledge of digital tools for process monitoring and data analysis.
• Commitment to product quality, compliance, and continuous improvement principles.

Physical Position Requirements

• Ability to work in a laboratory and manufacturing environment with appropriate safety measures.
• May require standing, walking, and occasional lifting.
• Ability to gown into production areas and adhere to GMP protocols.
• Occasional travel (<10%) to domestic or international sites may be required.
• Work some weekends due to experimental designs.

Full time

Regular

Colleague

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