MSAT Scientist

Job id: 083887. Salary: £ 37,332 - £ 42,099 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 05 February 2024. Closing date: 26 February 2024.

Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. Department: Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

Contact details: Simon Walker. Simon.walker@kcl.ac.uk

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Professional & Support Services.

Job description

The Cell and Gene Therapy group at King’s (CGT-K) manufactures a variety of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) in state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities for novel therapies of different cancers and rare diseases.

This post supports the translation of cutting-edge medicinal research into clinical application.

It is an opportunity to work within a leading translational Gene Therapy Innovation Hub led by the Centre for Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, focussed on the delivery of Lentiviral and Retroviral gene therapy products for early phase clinical trials as well as AAV gene therapies.

As an experienced scientist the post holder will work within the CGT-K MSAT team at Denmark Hill involved in manufacturing cell therapies/ viral vectors for clinical trials. The MSAT team are responsible for engineering runs, preGMP productions, process optimisation and improvement and investigations in the R&D labs. They will also take part in GMP productions as operators, assistants, trainers and observers in the GMP cleanrooms. The post holder will require a wide range of molecular and cell biology skills such as cell culture, transfections, QPCR etc. They will also need GMP experience, ideally in viral vector manufacturing, including cleanroom operations, following and writing GMP compliant documentation such as SOPs and BMRs, change controls and operating inside a QMS. This is a cross functional role, and the post holder will need strong flexibility, interpersonal and organisational skills as they will be interacting with the Production, QA and Technical teams, whilst ultimately reporting to the Head of MSAT.

This post will be offered on an indefinite contract.

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent.

Key responsibilities

Lead or assist in engineering and pre GMP production runs of recombinant lenti and retro virus at various scales in the R&D labs

Lead or assist in titre assessments by RT-PCR, dPCR, ELISA, additional QC assays in the R&D labs

Assist in process optimisation and development experiments

Train production staff in new process, techniques and equipment both in the R&D lab and in the GMP cleanroom

Write GMP compliant summary reports of completed projects

Write change controls to onboard new processes, techniques and equipment into GMP production

Be fully qualified as a GMP production operator and provide support to the production team

Lead on training in specific technical/ scientific areas of expertise.

Lead on the general running of the R&D labs

Ability to work independently based on an agreed work plan, setting own priorities and those of the team, working cooperatively to achieve the service objectives.

Forge relationships with colleagues in the university and externally, to disseminate and get information, coordinate and deliver the required service.

Nurture and encourage sustainable practices and leadership within your team and networks.

Be responsible for the compliance with Health & Safety and other relevant regulations governing the service

Facilitate an inclusive culture and ethos working with academic, research and other professional services staff and colleagues external to King’s

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Further information

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.