Bioprocess Upstream Development Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

Location: On-site Plainville, MA. Relocation assistance is NOT provided. 

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.
• Must be able to pass a comprehensive background check, which includes a drug screening.

How Will You Make an Impact?

Our new Bioprocess Design Center is an innovative facility dedicated to demonstrating and training customers on our innovative single-use technologies, Upstream and Downstream solutions, cell culture media, cell lines, resin and analytical offerings. We are seeking a Scientist / Engineer III – Bioprocess Development to support process development, customer programs, and technology evaluation across cell culture and analytical workflows.

This is a hands-on, cross-functional role for a scientist or engineer with strong bioprocess fundamentals and the ability to work across multiple technologies. The successful candidate will independently design and execute cell culture studies, perform analytical characterization, interpret process data, and translate experimental results into actionable process insights.

Working alongside upstream, downstream, analytical, automation, R&D, and commercial teams, this individual will support customer-facing programs and internal innovation while helping develop standardized, scalable bioprocess workflows at the BDC.

What Will You Do?
Cell Culture & Process Development

• Design and execute mammalian cell culture studies across shake flask, bench-scale, and single-use bioreactor systems.
• Support media and feed screening, process optimization, scale-up/scale-down, and technology evaluation studies.
• Operate and troubleshoot bioreactor systems and evaluate key process parameters including viable cell density, viability, metabolites, productivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and other process indicators.
• Apply structured experimental approaches, including Design of Experiments (DoE) where appropriate, to understand relationships between process parameters and performance.
• Analyze experimental data, troubleshoot process performance, and recommend appropriate next steps.

Analytical & Data Workflows

• Execute analytical workflows supporting bioprocess development, including measurements of cell growth, metabolites, product concentration, product quality, and overall process performance.
• Operate and troubleshoot relevant analytical instrumentation and ensure generation of reliable, reproducible experimental data.
• Integrate process and analytical datasets to identify trends, investigate performance, and support process-development decisions.
• Support development and standardization of fit-for-purpose analytical methods and workflows.
• Evaluate new analytical technologies and tools that improve process monitoring, characterization, and data-driven decision-making.

Customer Programs & BDC Capability Development

• Support customer process-development studies, technology demonstrations, technical workshops, and training activities at the BDC.
• Translate customer and internal project objectives into structured experimental plans in collaboration with technical leads.
• Present experimental approaches, results, and technical conclusions to internal teams and customers.
• Partner with R&D, applications, product management, and commercial teams to generate technical evidence supporting bioprocess technologies and applications.
• Develop and maintain experimental protocols, SOPs, data-analysis templates, technical reports, and best practices.
• Collaborate across upstream, downstream, filtration, analytical, automation, and process-modeling teams to support integrated bioprocess workflows.
• Contribute to laboratory readiness, equipment implementation, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement of BDC capabilities.

How Will You Get Here?

Minimum Qualifications

• B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Biology, Biochemistry, or related discipline with 5+ years of relevant experience; M.S. with 3+ years; or Ph.D., or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture and bioreactor operations, preferably using CHO or other industrially relevant cell lines.
• Understanding of upstream process-development fundamentals including media/feed strategies, process parameters, cell culture performance, and scale-up principles.
• Practical experience with analytical techniques used in bioprocess development, such as cell counting, metabolite analysis, protein quantification, chromatography, electrophoresis, or related methods.
• Demonstrated ability to independently plan and execute experiments, analyze data, troubleshoot technical issues, and communicate technical conclusions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with single-use bioreactors and bioprocess equipment.
• Experience with DoE, process characterization, scale-up/scale-down, or process analytical technologies.
• Familiarity with automated bioprocess systems, data visualization, or integrated process-data tools.
• Experience developing or implementing analytical workflows supporting upstream process development.
• Experience working in a customer-facing, applications, process-development, or technical training environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work across multiple technical disciplines and rapidly learn new technologies.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on bioprocess generalist who combines strong mammalian cell culture fundamentals with practical analytical capability. They are comfortable operating bioreactors, generating and interpreting process and analytical data, troubleshooting experiments, and communicating technical findings to multidisciplinary teams.

They are intellectually curious, adaptable, and motivated by working across technologies rather than within a single narrow discipline. They can independently execute complex experimental work while collaborating effectively with technical specialists and customer-facing teams.

What Success Looks Like

The successful candidate will become a versatile technical contributor within the BDC, capable of independently executing high-quality cell culture and analytical studies, supporting customer-facing programs, and strengthening integrated bioprocess workflows.

Over time, this individual will expand their technical depth and take increasing ownership of BDC capabilities, experimental programs, and customer engagements.

We offer competitive remuneration, annual incentive plan bonus scheme, healthcare, company 401k, and a range of employee benefits! Thermo Fisher Scientific offers employment with an innovative, forward-thinking organization, and outstanding career and development prospects. We offer an exciting company culture that stands for integrity, intensity, involvement, and innovation. 

Thermo Fisher Scientific is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform critical job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation. 

Compensation and Benefits

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards