Development Scientist, Microbial Cultivation

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Would you like to be part of a team of highly skilled academics and laboratory technicians that develop fermentation production processes for new therapeutic proteins? Are you enthusiastic about seeing the results of your work being scaled up and becoming life-changing innovation for patients? Apply today and join us for a life-changing career!
 

The position

As a Development Scientist, you will be part of the Microbial Cultivation Process Development Team, which consists of 5 specialists, 2 scientists and 1 post-doc. The team's primary task is to develop microbial fermentation and recovery processes (yeast and E. coli), produce material for non-clinical trials and tests and secure transfer to large-scale production. The fermentations are primarily carried out in bioreactors from 2L to 200L, as continuous or fed batch fermentations. The recovery processes are carried out and developed in various filtration and centrifugation systems.
 

Your responsibilities will include:

• Development of fermentation and recovery processes for new therapeutic proteins and plasmid DNA at laboratory and pilot scale
• Transfer of processes to GMP pilot plants and scientific support on production campaigns
• Documentation of process robustness and scalability

You will encounter technical and scientific challenges and work continuously to improve our processes. Collaboration is a key part of the way we work in the laboratory, and you will discuss your work in the team and work both independently and together with technicians and fellow scientists in the laboratories. The working climate is informal with a high degree of flexibility, empowerment, and mutual trust within the team. You will be working in an engaging scientific environment and in cooperation with colleagues from several different nationalities and scientific areas. We offer a position where you will be able to develop your scientific and technical knowledge as well as project management skills.

Your qualifications

• You hold a Ph.D. or Master's degree in chemical engineering or biology/ biotechnology, science, cand. scient or any other relevant degree
• Experience with microbial cultivation and/or physiology of yeast and E. coli
• Knowledge in molecular biology, strain engineering and plasmid DNA is desirable
• Hands-on experience with cultivation in laboratory, pilot or production scale is a clear advantage
• You are fluent in English (a fluency in Danish is not a pre-requisite)

As a person, you thrive in a changing and dynamic work environment and in a job that requires you to take initiatives and keep an eye on how to continuously improve our work processes. You are a true team-player who enjoys working in close collaboration with colleagues and stakeholders across functions and departments. Finally, you appreciate being hands-on and are not afraid to test and try new ideas.

The department

As part of Novo Nordisk PSQIT organisation, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC) Development & Scaling makes a real difference for patients with chronic diseases across the world. We develop, manufacture and distribute drug candidates for clinical trials and have a strong culture with a “can do” mind-set.

Upstream Development is part of CMC API Development, where we develop robust and reliable API processes for the entire Novo Nordisk drug candidate portfolio. This position is within the Microbial Cultivation Process Development team, located in Bagsværd.

In Upstream Development you will find 60 highly skilled and motivated colleagues divided into 4 teams. Our main responsibility is to develop and support upstream processes, fermentation and harvest, for clinical production of API in our in-house facilities or at Contract Manufacturing Organisations (CMOs). We provide input to Clinical Trial Applications (CTA) but in our facilities and laboratories we work non-GMP, focusing on process understanding. We receive projects from our research organisation and transfer them to our manufacturing organisation. We work in close collaboration with multiple internal and external stakeholders.

Working at Novo Nordisk

At Novo Nordisk, we don't wait for change. We drive it. We're a dynamic company in an even more dynamic industry, and we know that what got us to where we are today is not necessarily what will make us successful in the future. We embrace the spirit of experimentation, striving for excellence without fixating on perfection. We never shy away from opportunities to develop, we seize them. From research and development, through to manufacturing, marketing and sales - we're all working to move the needle on patient care.

Contact

For further information, please contact Manager Konstantina Giannakou at +45 34481988

Deadline

1 April 2025 

Applications will be reviewed continuously, and interviews will be conducted during the posting period, so please do not hesitate to apply. You do not need to attach a cover letter to your application, but please include a few sentences about why you are applying in your resume or CV. To ensure an efficient and fair recruitment process, please refrain from adding a photo in your CV.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants. 

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing.