Technical Specialist, Cell Culture Products

Technical Specialist, Cell Culture Products

Location: This position is based in our Durham, NC office and requires flexibility to support business needs, including participation in a rotating on-call schedule (weekdays, weekends, and holidays) and occasional overtime. The typical work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM–4:30 PM EST.

What you will get:

The full-time base annual salary for this remote position is expected to range between $68,000 to $108,000. In addition, below you will find a comprehensive summary of the benefits package we offer:

• Performance-related bonus.

• Medical, dental and vision insurance.

• 401(k) matching plan.

• Life insurance, as well as short-term and long-term disability insurance.

• Employee assistance programs.

• Paid time off (PTO).

Compensation for this role will be determined by the candidate’s qualifications, skills, experience, and relevant knowledge.

What you will do:

• Perform primary cell isolations from human and animal tissues (e.g., liver, lung, kidney, bone, blood) and serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for these procedures.

• Conduct routine cell culture activities, including screening, feeding, passaging, harvesting, and cryopreservation, in accordance with established protocols.

• Maintain laboratory operations by operating and maintaining equipment (e.g., centrifuges, microscopes, incubators), ordering and stocking supplies, and ensuring the lab remains clean and functional.

• Independently plan, schedule, and execute laboratory tasks for yourself and others, exercising sound judgment without requiring direct task delegation.

• Train and support laboratory technicians, acting as an SME for laboratory techniques and procedures.

• Write, review, and update SOPs, protocols, batch records, and technical reports, ensuring accuracy and compliance with quality standards.

• Perform peer review of batch records and ensure documentation meets regulatory and quality requirements.

• Identify and participate in process improvement initiatives supporting site- and production-specific innovation and efficiency.

• Participate in a rotating on-call schedule (weekdays, weekends, and holidays) to support isolations, feeding, passaging, cryopreservation, and other critical activities outside of regular business hours.

• Adhere to all quality and safety requirements, including strict compliance with SOPs, proactive promotion of workplace safety, participation in required training, and timely reporting of deviations, defects, inspections, or safety incidents.

• Apply independent judgment to solve problems of moderate complexity, using established practices and policies while leveraging experience to plan and accomplish goals.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

What we are looking for:

• Bachelor’s, MS, or PhD degree in Life sciences with 7+ years cell culture/biology experience (Years of experience may substitute for education in some instances.)

• Experience isolating cells from organs, tissues, and/or blood required

• Aseptic technique and experience in primary cell culture preferred

• Ability to use pipettes and other scientific equipment including microscopes, laminar flow biological safety cabinet, centrifuges

• Ability to read and follow SOPs and understand the importance of SOP compliance

• Ability to learn multiple procedures and understand importance of specific scientific techniques

• Ability to understand and follow cleaning schedules

• Written and oral communication skills to include accurate and legible documentation skills and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

• Computer skills including Microsoft Office and familiarity with databases.

• Organization skills, recordkeeping, time management skills, regular attendance required

• Strong written and oral communication skills, team oriented, independent work skills.

• Analytical ability, both interpersonal and issue-related; good judgment and ethics; professional demeanor.

• Self-motivated, strong work ethic, and ability to “get the job done” and take responsibility for results without direct authority.

Working Conditions:

• A majority of the work is done in a laboratory environment.

• Individual is required to wear, gown, booties, hair net, gloves, mask, and safety glasses.

• Working conditions can include heavy lifting (up to 50 lbs.), confined space (small lab areas), repetitive motion (vialing with Wheaton and Eppendorf, pipetting, processing tissue), excessive noise (from HEPA filters in ceiling and hoods all day), and chemical hazards including acids, bases, Trypan Blue, DMSO, formalin, PMA

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Our core values of Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion and Integrity reflect who we are and how we work together. Everyone’s ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives, and that’s the kind of work we want you to be part of.

Innovation thrives when people from all backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the table. At Lonza, we offer equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you’re ready to help turn our customers’ breakthrough ideas into viable therapies, we look forward to welcoming you on board.

Ready to shape the future of life sciences? Apply now.