Senior Associate Scientist - Process Development
- United States - New York - Pearl River
Why Patients Need You
Pfizer’s purpose is to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Process Development is at the heart of fulfilling this purpose as we translate advanced science into streamlined, robust processes that deliver medicines to patients globally.
What You Will Achieve
As a Senior Associate Scientist within the Early Bioprocess Development (EBPD) group in the Vaccines organization, you will apply cutting-edge technologies to accelerate the development of high-quality protein subunit vaccines. This role is highly technical and collaborative, requiring deep hands-on expertise in molecular biology, cell culture, and data-driven process optimization.
Your goals will be:
Optimize cell line development workflows to improve subunit protein expression, overall productivity, process efficiency and biological robustness of the production systems
Execute fermentation to characterize key performance indicators including cell fitness, growth, recovery, protein production yield, protein purity etc.
Perform data analysis to identify patterns, establishing quantitative correlations between input parameters such as DNA sequences and output values such as protein yield and quality.
Present experimental data and strategic conclusions at cross-functional meetings, contributing to team-wide knowledge sharing.
How You Will Achieve It
Collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams and working closely with the cell culture, purification, mRNA production and analytical groups.
Maintain impeccable, timely records in Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) and author comprehensive technical/production reports.
Draft, review, and contribute to internal technical reports and external scientific publications.
Contribute to building a culture that embraces excellence, urgency, partnerships with key stakeholders, continuous learning and improvement, increasing technical skill base and other cross-functional expertise.
Ensure all tasks and responsibilities are carried out according to scientific, ethical and regulatory standards.
Qualifications
Must-Have
B.S. degree with 3 to 5 years of relevant industry or research experience, or M.S. in bioengineering, biochemistry, chemical engineering or related fields with 0 to 3 years of experience
Experience in aseptic cell culture techniques, including cell passaging and maintenance, transfection, monitoring cell morphology and viability.
Experience in using flow cytometry, and cell sorting cytometers as well as flow cytometry analysis software such as FlowJo.
Knowledge and hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques including DNA/RNA extraction, PCR, ddPCR, RT-PCR, ligation, cloning, transformation, gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, western blot, ELISA.
Well organized, self-motivated, team-oriented with high attention to detail.
Strong collaborative spirit and communication skills.
Nice-to-Have
Experience in setting up, feeding, sampling and controlling benchtop or single-use bioreactors (batch, fed-batch)
Hands-on knowledge and experience with NGS sequencing platforms.
OTHER JOB DETAILS
Work Location Assignment: On site
Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the U.S. by any employer.
U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

Sunshine Act
Pfizer reports payments and other transfers of value to health care providers as required by federal and state transparency laws and implementing regulations. These laws and regulations require Pfizer to provide government agencies with information such as a health care provider’s name, address and the type of payments or other value received, generally for public disclosure. Subject to further legal review and statutory or regulatory clarification, which Pfizer intends to pursue, reimbursement of recruiting expenses for licensed physicians may constitute a reportable transfer of value under the federal transparency law commonly known as the Sunshine Act. Therefore, if you are a licensed physician who incurs recruiting expenses as a result of interviewing with Pfizer that we pay or reimburse, your name, address and the amount of payments made currently will be reported to the government. If you have questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact your Talent Acquisition representative.
EEO & Employment Eligibility
Pfizer is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status. Pfizer also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA. Pfizer is an E-Verify employer. This position requires permanent work authorization in the United States.
Pfizer endeavors to make www.pfizer.com/careers accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process and/or interviewing, please email disabilityrecruitment@pfizer.com. This is to be used solely for accommodation requests with respect to the accessibility of our website, online application process and/or interviewing. Requests for any other reason will not be returned.
To learn more about acceptable and prohibited uses of AI during the recruitment process, please review our candidate AI-use guidelines available on Pfizer Careers.

Research and Development
Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives
Research confirms what intuition tells us: that purpose-driven companies perform better, are more innovative, attract and retain the best people, and know how to unleash the power of those people. Pfizer’s purpose—Breakthroughs that change patients' lives—fuels everything we do and reflects our passion for building on our legacy as one of the greatest contributors of good to the world.
Each word in our purpose has meaning and reflects the value we strive to bring to patients and society:
“Breakthroughs” - These are the innovations, scientific and commercial, that we seek to deliver every day. All colleagues, regardless of role, level or location, strive for breakthroughs every day.
“Change” - We want to do more than simply improve patients’ medical conditions; we want to dramatically change their lives for the better.
“Patients’ lives” - We consider not only patients, but everyone they touch—including their families, caregivers, and friends—and everything they love to do. It’s an intentionally holistic view.
Our purpose ensures that patients remain at the center of all we do. We live our purpose by sourcing the best science in the world; partnering with others in the healthcare system to improve access to our medicines; using digital technologies to enhance our drug discovery and development, as well as patient outcomes; and leading the conversation to advocate for pro-innovation/pro-patient policies.
Every decision we make and every action we take is done with the patient in mind—and to nurture an environment where breakthroughs can thrive.
Pfizer Research & Development
Pfizer Research & Development serves as the beating heart of Pfizer's trailblazing product pipeline, the essence of our mission to bring life-changing medicines to the world.
With an unwavering commitment to innovation, we use a multidisciplinary approach that blends scientific expertise, cutting-edge technologies, and strategic collaborations, igniting a powerful engine that propels groundbreaking discoveries into life-saving treatments for patients in need.
Through our relentless pursuit of progress, we envision a future where cutting-edge medicines pave the way to healthier, happier lives worldwide.
Benefits at Pfizer
Pfizer offers competitive compensation and benefits programs designed to meet the diverse needs of our colleagues. Our Pay for Performance Philosophy and Practices reward colleagues based on the contributions they make to our business.
Our Competitive Benefits Programs help our colleagues by:
- Promoting Health and Wellness to help colleagues maintain and improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Pfizer offerings include health and disability insurance, preventative health programs, medical screenings, free or reduced-cost vaccinations, discounts on Pfizer products, mental health support, nutrition and fitness counseling and more.
- Strengthening Colleagues’ Financial Security by providing company contributions to retirement plans, life insurance and financial planning education to help colleagues achieve their financial goals.
- Providing Benefits and Time off for the Moments that Matter to ensure Pfizer colleagues have the time away from the office to recharge, recover and return to work as the best version of themselves. Vacation, Holiday time and Sick time are just the beginning, with a 12 week parental leave policy for both parents of a new born, 10 day of caregiver leave for those times when your family needs you whether it’s a child, spouse or parent, bereavement leave, and additional country-specific programs.
- And so much more, depending on your country and site, Pfizer offers childcare facilities or discount programs, on-site health and/or fitness centers, movement and mindfulness solutions, “Log in for your Day” work flexibility and so much more.
For U.S. based jobs, view an overview of Pfizer’s U.S. benefits program (opens in a new window)