Lead Scientist - Cell Expression

Lead Scientist - Cell Expression

Lonza

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Lonza is looking for a Lead Scientist with expertise in cell expression technologies to join our team developing next-generation, industrially relevant cell expression platforms. Based in Cambridge, you will spend approximately 80% of your time in the lab, leading projects, mentoring junior scientists, and contributing to innovative mammalian expression systems that support the production of complex therapeutic proteins.

What you will do:

• Lead key projects in mammalian cell line development, while spending the majority of your time (~80%) performing hands-on lab work;
• Mentor and support junior scientists within the team, fostering skill development and knowledge sharing;
• Contribute to the delivery of new CHO-based mammalian expression hosts for complex therapeutic protein production;
• Engineer mammalian cell lines using random integration, targeted integration, and CRISPR-based gene editing;
• Generate mammalian expression vectors using state-of-the-art assembly techniques;
• Perform phenotypic characterisation of edited cell lines with assays such as NGS, ddPCR, qPCR, flow cytometry, and advanced cell culture techniques;
• Collate, analyse, evaluate, and sign off data to produce high-quality information and traceable records;
• Present results in written and oral reports to internal stakeholders;
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including R&D Process Development and Protein Analytics to deliver expression solutions.

What we are looking for:

• PhD degree with relevant experience in an R&D setting;
• Practical R&D experience in academic or industrial settings;
• Strong technical background in molecular biology and mammalian cell culture for developing or manipulating expression systems;
• Experience in cell line engineering;
• Experience leading projects and mentoring junior scientists;
• Familiarity with implementing automation for cell line screening;
• Demonstrated contributions to technology development projects, with experience transferring new technologies to GMP manufacturing;
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and proactive problem-solving approach;
• Working knowledge of statistics and experimental design.