SENIOR SCIENTIST, CRYSTALLISATION

Pharmaron is a global CRO helping pharma and biotech companies bring new therapies to life. With over 21,000 employees worldwide across 23 sites across the UK, US and China, and we support drug discovery through to manufacturing with fully integrated, high-quality services.
We’re proud of the impact we make—just last year, we supported over 780 discovery projects, 1,000+ CMC programmes, and 1,000+ clinical trials across all phases. Our teams are involved in everything from small molecules to gene therapies, and we work with more than 3,000 global customers.
We’re looking for a Senior Scientist and as a technical expert in Crystallisation Development, you’ll have the chance to unleash your advanced knowledge in a variety of analytical techniques; providing support in the development and characterisation of Starting Materials, Intermediates, APIs and formulations collaborating effectively with our Process Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Product Development and Analytical Chemistry colleagues.
You should have a background in Crystallisation Development, Materials Characterisation and Analytical Chemistry combined with expertise in XRPD, DSC, TGA, DVS, microscopy and PSD. Knowledge in the following areas: crystallisation development, process analytical technology, chemical engineering, milling, polymorphism and crystallography, together with knowledge of other analytical methodologies utilised to characterize APIs would be a definite advantage.

At Pharmaron, we offer:

• Vibrant and dynamic employment – we are a highly specialised, growth company operating in a critical sector of the economy – our future is strong and exciting
• Opportunities to develop your skills and yourself – our rapid growth brings greater opportunities for you to learn and grow faster!
• A great team where we all support each other – enjoy your work – after all you spend about a third of your time here!

REQUIREMENTS:

• PhD in chemistry or relevant related subject with a technical focus on crystallisation for purity upgrade or particle engineering or PAT (additional industrial or academic experience preferred), or an MSC in chemistry with several years relevant industrial experience in crystallisation development or PAT.
• Knowledge of crystallisation methodologies relevant to drug substances.
• Familiarity with in-situ process analytical technologies for crystallisation process development (desired).
• Knowledge of data analytics and data visualisation tools.
• Knowledge of Design of Experiments (DoE) and related software (Desired).
• Significant expertise in troubleshooting and developing materials characterisation methods including XRPD, DSC, TGA, DVS, Microscopy and PSD. In-depth, hands-on expertise and up-to-date knowledge of other analytical methodologies.
• Experience using the following equipment would also be desired although not essential: Technobis Crystal 16, Crystalline or Crystal breeder, Mettler React IR, FBRM, BlazeMetrics, Easymax, other Spectroscopic PAT such as NIR or Raman
• Strong scientific record of accomplishment.

THE FOLLOWING SKILLS WOULD ALSO BE CONSIDERED DESIRABLE:

• Modelling and Simulation tools.
• Computational Software proficiency: Gaussian, Material Studi, ORCA, etc.
• Force field methods (COMPASS, MMFF94)

• Supporting crystallisation and isolation process development through laboratory experiments and materials characterisation assessment of starting materials, intermediates and APIs.
• Determining the appropriate combination of crystallisation and milling to deliver API with the desired particle size and physical properties.
• Performing DoE on crystallisation and milling processes to deliver the desired physical properties and impurity profiles.
• Monitoring reaction pathways and kinetics using appropriate PAT.
• Conduct analysis of samples for key physical properties including XRPD, optical microscopy, PSD and other relevant techniques.
• Assessment of polymorph landscape for final APIs and defining thermodynamically stable form.
• Assessment of solubility in a variety of media using appropriate methods.
• Supporting clients in helping to define final salt and polymorphic form based on a full materials characterisation assessment.
• Supporting preformulation assessment of final phases.
• Working within project teams working to tight deadlines.
• Able to step in and learn new techniques to support projects.
• Ability to solve complex scientific problems.
• Able to work effectively in a GMP laboratory.
• Present and communicate clearly and effectively with clients.