Team Leader, Cell Therapy Production

Would you like to combine your expertise in cell production and quality control with your excellent leadership skills for the development of cell based therapies? Join us and be a key player in the build of our new Biopharmaceuticals R&D Cell Therapy department. Together we will push the boundaries of Science!

At AstraZeneca, you will be empowered to be innovative and creative where difference is valued. We thrive in a place where the brightest and most curious minds seamlessly come together in our inclusive environment. Biopharmaceuticals R&D is committed to the development of next generation innovative medicines and we are building a new Cell Therapy department with the goal to establish AstraZeneca as a world-leader in Cell Therapy across disease areas within Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM) and Respiratory and Inflammation (R&I). The department will bring together >50 specialists to support the organisation with cell therapy expertise and capabilities. The new department has an agile "biotech-like" culture, with specialists in the department working closely with experts across AstraZeneca globally to leverage the existing and emerging platforms in stem cell technologies, new modalities, universal cell lines, and CRISPR-mediated genome editing.

As a Cell Therapy production team leader you will contribute significantly towards building a pipeline of cell therapy assets. The newly formed team will deliver in our aspirations to be differentiated within the cell therapy space and as such will have strong impact on the shape of AstraZeneca R&D.

The role is placed at AstraZeneca's dynamic R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden, where you will work in an international environment at the fore-front of Cell Therapy science.

What you'll do

In this key role you will be responsible for early pre-clinical cell production for cell based therapy applications at the Cell Therapy Department, BioPharmaceuticals R&D. You will lead and support a Cell Therapy production team in delivering cells to a portfolio of projects by providing production related input and leadership for the team, ensuring delivery of cells and results in line with objectives. This will require strategic and tactical development of the team, identifying priorities, building operations and develop a suitable quality system to ensure appropriate cell deliveries. Responsibilities include:

* Manage and lead the Production team for the Department, delivering a portfolio of products by providing direction to the team and key stakeholders
* Provides production input into the BioPharmaceuticals R&D Cell Therapy project portfolio and ensure that there is strong alignment and engagement between the Production and Bioscience Cell Therapy teams, the project teams and sister departments
* Plan, design, and execute cell deliveries for experiments to generate high quality results to support project decisions and milestones
* Recruit, retain, and develop the production team members to build a world class team with cell therapy experience to accelerate AstraZeneca's ambitions in cell therapy
* Lead, support and adopt continuous development of cell therapy manufacturing and QC technologies within AZ that will allow AZ to accelerate its ambition and establish itself in the field
* Ensure that work is performed in accordance with appropriate Safety, Health & Environment (SHE), quality and compliance standards
* Oversee processes and standards to ensure compliance to all relevant internal and external processes
* Lead, influence and interact with key academic and industrial partners in support of the development and commercialization of cell therapies

Essential for the role

The right person for this exciting role has a M.Sc./B.Sc. in Cell Biology, Engineering (or equivalent experience) and expertise in Cell Therapy Production (and/or Bioprocessing) and Quality Control together with significant experience of interactions with industrial and academic partners. And of course, previous line manager experience.

With your excellent interpersonal, communication and collaboration skills you have the ability to operate effectively across boundaries in a global matrix research environment to influence both internal and external stakeholders. Your passion, strong vision and drive to succeed together with key qualities like entrepreneurial working style and excellent problem-solving skills will make you an great addition to the team! If you are well networked and have a good reputation within the Cell Therapy industry that is a plus.

So, what's next?

Are you ready to bring new ideas and fresh thinking to the table? Excellent! We have one seat available and we hope it's yours.

For more information about the position please contact hiring manager Johan Hyllner (johan.hyllner@astrazeneca.com)

Welcome with your application no later than May 23, 2021

Where can I find out more?

Our Gothenburg site: Link

Life in Gothenburg: Link

Culture and atmosphere of the Gothenburg site: Link

Why AstraZeneca?

Our Gothenburg site is one of AstraZeneca's three strategic science centers. We thrive in a multinational environment working cross-functionally across the globe with AstraZeneca colleagues as well as academic and industry partners. Our way of life is to foster a working environment that nurtures, collaboration, openness and innovation.