Senior Scientist

Title: Senior Scientist, Process Chemistry

Location: Macclesfield

Remote/Onsite Requirement: Macclesfield – lab-based role 100% onsite

Duration of Contract: 12 Months

IR35 Determination: INSIDE

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company where we not only focus on the discovery, development and delivery of life-saving medicines to our patients but believe in sustainability and are determined to minimise the impact of our work on the environment. We are proud to be a great place to work and have a culture that inspires innovation and collaboration. We empower our colleagues to express diverse perspectives and at the same time feel valued, respected and rewarded for their ideas and creativity.

Chemical Development:

In Chemical Development we are determined to push the boundaries of science to deliver medicines to our patients. We combine people’s technical knowledge and understanding with their talent and drive to design, develop and optimise synthetic routes and processes that deliver the active pharmaceutical ingredients of our medicines in a sustainable, commercially viable way. We believe in innovation and continuous improvement, working closely with colleagues in academia and across industry, to ensure that we apply the newest technologies and principles in the processes we develop.

We now have exciting opportunities for Senior Scientists in our growing process chemistry development teams. The responsibilities and requirements of the position are outlined below.

Key responsibilities:

As a process chemist working closely with analytical chemists, engineers, project managers and other scientists, you will contribute to pharmaceutical development programmes, supporting project progression through late clinical development and launch.Potentially, you will lead significant parts of chemistry development programmes. You will:

• Design and implement new chemical routes and processes suitable for scale-up, with a focus on process understanding.
• Be responsible for optimising chemical manufacturing processes taking consideration of speed, quality, cost, sustainability, reproducibility and efficiency
• Collaborate closely with other scientists to contribute to the development of new medicines.
• Assess and manage process risks arising from scale, equipment or process changes.
• Support problem solving when development or manufacturing issues arise.
• May also work with third party organisations to develop and manufacture API processes.

Essential Requirements:

• A PhD in Organic Chemistry, or BSc/MSc with relevant industrial experience to an equivalent level
• Substantial experience in practical organic synthesis
• A proven record of innovation through, for instance, authorship of papers, inventor status on patents, or presenting at external conferences
• An excellent understanding of synthetic reagents and methodologies, reaction mechanisms and modern analytical techniques
• The ability to think innovatively to drive improvement, and address issues when contributing to project strategies

Desirable Requirements

• Lab-based pharmaceutical industry and/or process development experience, using a broad range of practical techniques
• Practical experience of modern synthetic technologies, e.g. process analytical techniques, continuous processing, high through-put experimentation, etc.
• The ability to develop and analyse multiple solutions to problems

Skills and capabilities

• Ability to challenge and innovate, bringing new solutions and opportunities for chemical development.
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex chemistry problems and provide solutions
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate across interfaces of scientific disciplines, culture, and expertise both internally and externally.

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer. AstraZeneca will consider all qualified applicants for employment without discrimination on grounds of disability, sex or sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity leave status, race or national or ethnic origin, age, religion or belief, gender identity or re-assignment, marital or civil partnership status, protected veteran status (if applicable) or any other characteristic protected by law.