Senior Scientist - Solid State

We have an opportunity to join the Material Science and Solid State team within Inhalation Product Development (IPD) as a Senior Scientist.

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company where we turn ideas into life changing medicines and strive to meet the unmet needs of patients worldwide. Pharmaceutical Technology & Development (PT&D) is a global function tasked with design, development, commercialization and support of AstraZeneca's medicines and reports to the EVP of Operations. IPD in Gothenburg sits within PT&D and is responsible for the development of inhalation products including combinations.

The Senior Scientist role requires a strong scientific background in the field of solid state and a high focus on physical characterisation of critical properties of a variety of drug substances such as crystalline and amorphous small molecules, large biomolecules such as proteins, oligonucleotides and RNA, as well as excipients and complex formulations in the field of inhalation.

What you'll do

The role holder is responsible for the application and development of solid state science to support drug product development. By producing data and knowledge, using a tool box of techniques to predict properties and progress the characterisation and development of drug substance and drug products., you will bring clear conclusions to project teams, highlight risks and propose future steps.

You will join matrix style project delivery teams and work closely together with scientists specialised in formulation, analytics and biopharmaceutics to achieve successful delivery of goals in drug product projects in the clinical phases as well as innovation and feasibility projects our common effort to drive the projects forward. In addition, you will work at the interface between drug substance and drug product, being a key collaborator and contact point with colleagues responsible for drug substance development.

You will need a strong scientific background with good communication skills (written and verbal) and a truth-finding drive. You will use these abilities to engage and collaborate with colleagues from different functions, and drive activities forwards with a positive problem-solving attitude and a delivery focus.

Key Responsibilities

* Provide solid state expertise in product development. Plan and execute material science and solid-state characterization of drug substances, excipients and inhaled formulations using experimental and in silico approaches.
* Identify and define drug substance and drug product physical critical attributes, contribute to the end-to-end control strategy and reduce end-product testing
* Identify and assess form, confirmation and physical stability risks. Develop understanding of the link between critical material attributes, process robustness and product performance.
* Interest in developing new approaches to combine computations and experiments to improve our ability to support the development of new medicines.
* Clearly communicate plans, experimental data and conclusions to project teams
* Tackle complex scientific problems and provide lean and innovative solutions
* Develop appropriate methods to support and inform formulation development, and perform phase appropriate validation as required, in accordance with relevant guidelines
* Influence project teams to ensure optimal physical form assessments and control strategies.

Essential Requirements

* PhD level education (or BSc/MSc with proven industry experience) in solid state/physical science or relevant area.
* An excellent understanding of principles of physical chemistry related to molecular interactions in solid state and associated phase transformations under thermal, moisture or mechanical stress factors.
* Knowledge of computational chemistry and solid state physics
* Proven experience in solid state characterisation based on e.g. calorimetric, spectroscopic, crystallographic or molecular dynamic techniques of biomolecules in solid dispersed systems.
* Advanced practical expertise in solid state experimental methods (such as DSC, XRPD, GVS, Raman, IR, ssNMR) or in silico solid state characterization.
* The ability to tackle complex scientific problems and troubleshooting.
* A proven track record of working collaboratively in a team environment to deliver project objectives
* Excellent interpersonal skills and strong ability to discuss complex ideas in a simple, easy to understand way.
* Effective influencing and prioritization skills to ensure project delivery to deadlines.

Preferred Requirements

* Experience of pharmaceutical development and solid state control strategies and a proven track record in influencing product design using scientific solid state data and experience of direct impact on decisions during pharmaceutical product development
* Experience working in a GLP/GMP environment
* Knowledge in characterization and stabilization of biomolecules in a solid disperse matrix and links to formulation design and optimization
* Knowledge and experience of in-silico modelling of biomolecules such as proteins, oligonucleotides and RNA.
* In depth knowledge of computational approaches related to solids (e.g. Materials studio, CCDC, VASP, Quantum ESPRESSO, GROMACS)
* Knowledge and experience of characterization of materials coming from size reduction or spray drying processes
* Experience of regulatory file submissions or agencies interactions.
* Knowledge predictive modelling packages.
* Experience of technical supervision, coaching and mentoring

We welcome your application no later than June 5th, 2022.