Debut
Associate Director/Director, Downstream Processing
$150K–$180K
San Diego, CA +1 · Director · Full-time · Posted Aug 5, 2026
- Location
- San Diego, CA
Debut - Experience
- PhD + 10 years; OR Master’s Degree + 16 years; OR Bachelors Degree + 18 years of experience.
- Education
- PhD; OR Master’s Degree; OR Bachelors Degree.
About the job
Leads downstream purification process development and scale-up for precision-fermentation products, managing the technical work and external manufacturing partnerships.
What you'll do
- Direct downstream process development from bench through pilot and manufacturing scale, and set the function’s technical priorities.
- Lead and mentor scientists and engineers; manage CDMO/CMO partnerships, technology transfer, and external scale-up projects.
- Develop robust, cost-effective processes and align with upstream, quality, regulatory, and supply chain teams.
What they ask for
- Demonstrated downstream process development experience for fermentation-derived products across lab, pilot, and manufacturing scales.
- Expertise across downstream unit operations, including centrifugation, filtration, distillation, precipitation, chromatography, extraction, crystallization, and drying.
- Experience leading technical teams, executing technology transfers, and managing external scale-up or manufacturing projects.
- Experience evaluating CDMO/CMO partners, including RFP authorship and site audits.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with mass balance review and master batch record oversight.
- Experience with microbial fermentation DSP processes for hydrophobic and hydrophilic target compounds.
Pay
$150,000-$180,000 (base salary)
Tools
centrifugation, filtration, distillation, precipitation, chromatography, liquid/liquid extraction, crystallization, drying
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative