Process Engineer

Job Description

Role Process Engineer

Location Alderley Park, Cheshire, England

Job Type Permanent

Salary £35,000 - £75,000

Date posted 30th January 2023

Start date ASAP

The Company
Sai Life Sciences is a leading global Contract Research & Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) that provides integrated drug substance services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. With recently expanded process development labs in Manchester, UK & Hyderabad, India, and increased commercial manufacturing capacity in Bidar, India, Sai is working with 7 of the top 10 pharma companies globally, as well as many leading smaller biotechs. We work with our clients to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacture of complex small molecules for a healthier tomorrow. With more than 2500 staff globally and ambitious growth plans, our vision is to support our global innovator partners to bring 25 new medicines to life by 2025.

Marking the completion of 20 years since inception in 2019, the company began an organisation-wide initiative to significantly expand and upgrade its R&D and manufacturing facilities, deepen scientific & technological capabilities, strengthen automation and data systems, and above all raise the bar for safety, quality and customer focus. Guided by the insights and feedback from its customers, it committed to investing over US$150M between 2019 and 2023. Part of this investment in 2020 were the new state of the art laboratories in our centre of excellence for process chemistry and analytical development at the Alderley Park Science Park, situated on the outskirts of Manchester, where we are now looking to expand our process engineering team. Our overall team currently consists of >60 multi-disciplinary scientists (chemists, analysts and engineers).

Non-GMP manufacture of kg quantities of intermediates and APIs is currently possible within our bespoke Scale- up laboratory facility. During Q4 2022 a new GMP Kilo-lab facility will be created which is capable of kg quantities of GMP API suitable for early phase clinical studies. The developed processes may then be transferred to Sai’s manufacturing sites in India for further scale-up as required.

This is a great opportunity to work with an expanding global organisation and work closely with some of the most innovative biotech and pharma companies on their most important programmes.

The role will be based in Alderley Park, Cheshire, UK and will require right to work in the UK. Occasional travel, domestic and international to India may be required.

The Role

Sai is looking for an experienced chemical engineer who is seeking a new challenge to join our Process Engineering team, as we look to expand our project delivery and technology transfer capabilities and open a GMP kilo lab with up to 35L capacity vessels.

• You will join a team that assists in the process development and technology transfer of process to small molecule APIs, supporting both early and late phase development.
• You will be expected to support chemistry projects to develop the process engineering knowledge and lead the transfer from lab to scale-up lab in Manchester and further to production scale in India.
• The successful candidate will have a background in Chemical Engineering with experience in a relevant pharmaceutical or CDMO industry.
• For those more experienced candidates, you will have demonstrated expertise in the scale-up and process understanding of chemical process unit operations in the manufacture of APIs, intermediates and raw materials. Experience in Quality by Design, process safety, technology transfer and commercial production would also be advantageous.

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Chemical Engineering or related scientific discipline.
• Experience in chemical engineering solutions for the design and scale-up of novel small molecule API manufacturing processes, working alongside R&D scientists and plant engineers.
• In-depth, hands-on expertise and up-to-date knowledge of a wide range of chemistry unit operations such as reactions, distillation, separation, filtration and drying.
• Strong scientific track record
• A demonstrated ability to handle several projects in different stages of development at the same time.

Desirable Attributes

• Equivalent experience in a Process, Synthetic Chemistry or Manufacturing environment.
• Experience in working to GMP.
• Experience in the application of Process Safety to the design of chemical processes
• Project leadership experience.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Providing expert input to deliver robust and reliable processes for pilot scale and manufacturing plant.
• Scientific delivery of process unit operations that are designed, studied, modelled, and transferred to ensure successful scale-up and implementation.
• Working within multi-functional project teams operating to tight deadlines.
• Leading the process engineering aspects of projects both at Sai Alderley Park and with process and plant engineers in India.
• Supporting scale-up lab manufacturing campaigns as required.
• Application of new or novel technologies to support projects.

Key Attributes

• Excellent communication skills to interact internally with project teams and externally with customers
• Good project management and supervisory skills.
• Collaboration and influencing skills to build partnerships with the other disciplines at Manchester, similar groups at our R&D centre in Hyderabad, and with our customers.
• Conscientious with a can-do attitude and thorough attention to detail.
• A team player.
• Competent in the use of key process engineering and modelling software packages.

The Offer

• A competitive Salary and Benefits package including company pension, health and life insurance, 25 days holiday per year and enhanced family leave.
• Work in a state-of-the-art facility on one of the country's leading Biotech & Life Science Parks on outskirts of Manchester.
• Flexible working hours and conditions to suit the right candidate.

Next steps

Please send your CV and cover letter with details of the role that you are applying for.

As an Equal Opportunities employer, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

Please note that Sai Life Sciences Ltd is unable to sponsor the visas for any candidates for the above role.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £35,000.00-£75,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company pension
• Employee discount
• Flexitime
• Free parking
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Private medical insurance
• Referral programme
• Sick pay
• Store discount

Schedule:

• Flexitime
• Monday to Friday
• No weekends

Application question(s):

• Please advise of notice period in weeks

Education:

• Bachelor's (required)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: One location