Senior Research Associate, Upstream Operations

PACT Pharma is an exciting, well-funded clinical-stage company developing personalized adoptive T cell therapies for the eradication of solid tumors. Our private designer T cells are created by analyzing a patient’s individual tumor and engineering T cells to kill that specific tumor. 

If you desire a stimulating fast-paced environment, working with intelligent people who are making an impact in cancer, you will want to join the PACT Pharma team.  We are a rapidly expanding, innovative, and collaborative workforce working towards one main goal, eradicating cancer! 

We are in the San Francisco bay area, the heart of the world’s premier biotechnology research hub. PACT Pharma offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, including participation in the aggressive growth of the company in the form of stock option grants. 

We are currently recruiting for a Senior Research Associate in the clinical pipeline group to continue advancing PACT’s cutting-edge engineered cell product. This will be a unique opportunity to see your ideas rapidly translate into the clinic and impact patient lives.

The person in this role will be responsible for evaluation of T cells as part of the product selection process prior to the manufacturing of PACT's adoptive cell therapy product (neoTCR-P1) for clinical patients. This process is performed in a GMP-like laboratory setting and includes characterizing T cell phenotype and functionality using state-of-the-art flow cytometry-based methods and automation. The ideal candidate should enjoy operating in an exceptionally dynamic and cooperative environment.

Responsibilities:

• The ideal candidate will perform and thoroughly document ex vivo T cell functional assays according to established procedures
• Demonstrate strong accountability, organizational, and interpersonal skills; will collaborate and work effectively within the team and across multi-functional teams
• Identify areas of the process for improvement and work with the process development team to test and implement improvements
• Analyze flow cytometry data and carefully write reports that will help inform product candidate selection in clinical patients
• Operate advanced liquid handling and robotic laboratory automation
• Become a process expert and mentor/train research associates in performing the workflows
• Assist junior team members with issues that may arise, including any necessary documentation 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 4+ or Master’s with 2+ years of industry experience, preferably in a production environment
• The candidate should be proficient in state-of-the-art techniques for characterizing T cell phenotype and measuring T cell functionality (antigen-specific killing assays, cytokine production, proliferation)
• The candidate should be proficient at cell-based bioassays, ELISA, flow cytometry and primary human T cells and mammalian cell culture
• Must have excellent organizational skills and should be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in the form of written reports
• Demonstrated ability to work well within a team environment is a must
• Experience with automated lab workflows and liquid handlers is a plus
• Experience operating within a formal quality management system. cGMP or ISO 13485 production experience is a plus 

PACT Pharma is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and strives to build a diverse and inclusive team. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.