Specialist Scientist - Structural Biology & Purification

SUMMARY:
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POSITION INFO:

Are you passionate about contributing to global health and vaccine innovation? Afrigen Biologics is seeking a qualified and experienced Specialist Scientist to join our R&D team, providing purification and/or structural biology expertise and support to various development projects. The appointee will also provide technical support to the analytics team where needed. The successful candidate may be involved in training (& mentorship) of scientists/engineers and production staff and contribute to a portfolio of R&D projects. The candidate should be comfortable working in a diverse, interdisciplinary team and managing multiple projects/tasks.

Key Responsibilities:

• Optimisation of mRNA vaccine antigen purification workflow
• Development & optimisation of purification technologies required for pDNA purification.
• Development of purification process trains required for other Afrigen vaccine related products.
• Training of Afrigen scientist on purification and structural biology aspects, both in concept and hands-on training
• Structural biology expertise for functional expression for antigens (mRNA and other)
• Contribute to analytics development, trouble shooting, data analyses where needed and appropriate.
• Excellent organization and time management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (good writing skills demonstrated through publications)
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team required.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and data entry required.
• Good problem-solving and creative thinking skills and well-developed personal stress management skills.
• Capable of working as part of a multidisciplinary team showing strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Comply with the company’s documentation practices and write progress reports.
• Abide by the company’s health and safety policies and procedures

Qualifications and Experience:

• PhD degree in Medical Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Bioprocess Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience in a research and development environment.
• Exposure and understanding of scientific principles that governs production of vaccines and /or biologicals.
• Quality and regulatory compliance knowledge, i.e. SAHPRA and WHO. Knowledge of cGMP (SA, PIC, WHO) and GLP guidelines.
• Knowledge and experience in analytical method development particularly bioanalytics experience will be an advantage.