P3P3 — Mid-Level Professional
Research & Development – Process Development (Upstream) Scientist
Designs and executes experiments to develop robust cell culture or fermentation processes.
What this level means
Fully competent professional; works independently on standard projects
- Scope
- Features or a sub-system end-to-end
- Autonomy
- Works independently on standard work; reviewed on the non-standard
- Complexity
- Diverse problems; adapts existing approaches
- Impact
- Project / team outcomes
- Decision rights
- Owns implementation decisions for own scope
- Leadership
- Mentors juniors informally
- Typical experience
- 3–5 yrs
What you'd do
- Develop and refine cell culture or fermentation processes
- Plan and conduct experiments
- Translate lab-scale processes to larger scales
- Analyze data from experiments and scale-up runs
- Interface with Downstream Process Development
- Design and execute experiments
- Scale lab processes to pilot scale
- Collaborate with downstream teams
Skills, knowledge & tools
- Experimental design
- Data analysis
- Process scaling
- Team collaboration
- Technical communication
- Biochemical engineering principles
- Cell culture techniques
- Fermentation processes
- Bioprocess scaling
- Data interpretation
- Problem-solving aptitude
- Attention to detail
- Good teamwork and communication skills
- Adaptability
What good looks like
- Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Microbiology or related field
- 3+ years of hands-on experience in upstream process development
- Experience in developing processes for biologics
Common titles
Cell Culture IIICell Culture 3Mid-Level Cell CultureFermentation IIIFermentation 3Mid-Level FermentationResearch & Development – Process Development (Upstream) ScientistResearch Scientist
What it pays
Market-pay benchmarks for this family × level are being recalibrated across all survey sources and will return shortly.
O*NET / SOC: 19-0000 — Life, Physical, & Social Science Occupations (inferred)