Senior Scientist, Materials Science

Site Name: UK - Hertfordshire - Stevenage

Posted Date: Mar

Materials Science provides holistic understanding of how structure influences particle and powder properties to design a crystallisation process to optimise drug product manufacture and performance. As projects advance through development, materials scientists support project teams by performing laboratory studies, analysing data, from lead optimization in Discovery up to and including the transfer and industrialization of manufacturing processes to commercial facilities.

Your role will be focused on the characterisation of drug substances to support the design, selection and progression of all new drug products developed within GSK's Pharmaceutical portfolio. This will be based on generation of physical-chemical properties and their relationship to biopharmaceutics and materials science understanding gained via a range of in-vitro analytical methods, solid-state physical characterisation, structural analysis and in-silico modelling tools.

Here at our pioneering R&D Stevenage site we have a fantastic opportunity for a position in our Materials Science Team. It is predominantly lab-based and may require some travel to our other R&D site in Ware, Hertfordshire.

In this role you will

• Develop plans and execute laboratory experiments for in-vitro biorelevant measurements of a drug substance or formulation (e.g., kinetic solubility, dissolution, Intrinsic Dissolution Rate, particle imaging, permeability, zeta potential and others) across multiple projects to generate data to inform R&D decision making on molecule selection and drug product optimisation
• Design, perform and may lead physical properties analysis of drug substance and drug product when required using a range of analytical techniques, including XRPD, GVS, Raman, DSC, TGA, Optical Microscopy
• Design, execute and lead work packages to relate the physical properties of drug substance and drug product to structure, performance and efficacy (e.g., solid form landscape, particle size and shape, solubility, dissolution rate)
• Work in collaboration with partners (e.g., Pharmaceutical Product Development, Biopharmaceutics and CMC Analytical) to obtain inputs for predicting in-vivo product performance via PBPK modelling
• Ensure appropriate quality activities are performed throughout development including authoring of analytical test results
• Work effectively and collaboratively on multi-disciplinary medicine development teams
• Confident in data management and some data interpretation, record results effectively and communicate results in technical reports
• Designing and executing modelling and/or experimental studies that influence project direction in line with QbD approaches.
• Proactively engage and collaborate with cross-functional scientists to solve problems, demonstrating networking and influencing skills through interactions across departments and divisions.

Why you?

Qualifications & Skills:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• BSc/MSc (or equivalent) in Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Science/Analytical Chemistry.
• Experience in biopharmaceutics/drug absorption, related tools (in-vivo, in-vitro, in-silico) and their use within product design and development
• Experience in an industrial lab-based setting
• Working knowledge of the pharmaceutical development process
• Working knowledge of relating physical properties to structure and performance of drug substance and drug product
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with scientists in other disciplines with a positive and collaborative attitude.
• Demonstrated collaborative behaviours working in a matrix environment and working across functions/disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills:

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

• Experience of using in-vitro biorelevant measurements (e.g., solubility/dissolution, Intrinsic Dissolution Rate, transfer models) for oral biopharmaceutics
• Experience in formulation development of pharmaceutical products
• Experience in solid state analysis techniques such as XRPD, Raman and thermal methods
• Experience in mechanistic PBPK modelling (e.g., Gastroplus, Simcyp), in-silico platforms (e.g., MATLAB, gPROMS) and application to product design across dosage forms

Closing Date for Applications: 10th April 2023 (COB)

Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert.

When applying for this role, please use the 'cover letter' of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

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Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose - to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together - so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns - as an organisation where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years.

Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it's also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a place where people feel inspired, encouraged and challenged to be the best they can be. A place where they can be themselves - feeling welcome, valued and included. Where they can keep growing and look after their wellbeing. So, if you share our ambition, join us at this exciting moment in our journey to get Ahead Together.

Find out more:

Annual Report 2021

R&D

We're combining the power of genetic and genomic insights into what causes disease, with the speed and scale of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to make better predictions about who a treatment might work for, and why. We believe this powerful combination of data and technology holds the key to fundamentally transforming medical discovery for the better, improving R&D success rates and shaping how even the most challenging diseases, like neurological conditions and cancer, can be both prevented and treated.

In 2021 we delivered four major product approvals: Cabenuva for HIV, Jemperli for endometrial cancer, Xevudy for COVID-19 and Apretude, our new long-acting medicine for HIV prevention.

Find out more:

Our approach to R&D

#CMCDevelopmentGSK

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose - to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together - so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns - as an organisation where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years.

Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it's also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and thrive as set out in our Equal and Inclusive Treatment of Employees policy. We're committed to being more proactive at all levels so that our workforce reflects the communities we work and hire in, and our GSK leadership reflects our GSK workforce.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are open to all talent. In the US, we also adhere to Affirmative Action principles. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to neurodiversity, race/ethnicity, colour, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, disability, genetic information, military service, covered/protected veteran status or any other federal, state or local protected class(US only).

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