Staff Applications Engineer

Position Summary

Cellares is seeking an innovative and highly motivated Application Engineer with expertise in complex automation equipment to join the Research and Development team. This individual will interface across many parts of the company and contribute significantly to the development of our advanced cell therapy manufacturing platform.  

The primary focus of this position is to function as the liaison between hardware engineering and process development groups. This hands-on role will require running cell therapy manufacturing processes and designing and executing experiments that drive the continuous improvement of the Cellares platform. The ideal candidate will be a strong technical contributor and cross-functional collaborator with demonstrated experience developing robust autologous and allogeneic cell therapy processes.

Candidates should enjoy working in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment, and be prepared to tackle a broad selection of challenges as the company grows.

• On-sIte technical support of and collaboration with Process Development Team, working on ongoing and future client processes, aiding with workflow definition and optimization, troubleshooting, root cause investigation, continuous improvement
• Design and execute complex experiments using sound scientific principles and statistical approaches (DOE) to support the overall development efforts of the Cellares platform 
• Interface internally and cross-functionally with Analytical Development, MSAT, Quality, Manufacturing, and Engineering to implement new processes and technologies as part of the core technology transfer team
• Provide technical training and guidance to junior team members
• Author high-quality technical documents, procedures, reports, white papers
• Analyze and present technical results  to peers and senior leadership

• BS or MS in Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Biology, Biochemistry, or related field with 12+ years of process development experience in the cell and gene therapy field OR PhD in relevant fields with 6+ years of industry experience in the cell and gene therapy field
• Extensive experience designing scale-up experiments and troubleshooting semi-automated instruments 
• Hands-on experience with both autologous and allogeneic cell therapy manufacturing processes
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; Able to interpret, summarize, and present scientific results in a clear, concise, accurate manner to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Python scripting experience is a plus
• Experience with flow cytometry and cell based assays preferred
• Strong understanding of cell biology and immunology preferred
• Creative, self-motivated, eager to take on a wide variety of tasks and grow with the evolving technology
• Strong understanding of cell biology and immunology preferred