Sr. Bioprocess Engineer

About Us:

Culture’s mission is to simplify and accelerate bioprocess development to enable our customers to bring their biopharmaceutical products to market faster.

With a focus on upstream cell culture process development, Culture has developed a unique platform that merges products, services and data management that can be applied to mammalian, microbial and viral vector production processes. This platform enables high-throughput process development projects to be rapidly and seamlessly executed directly by our customers in their own facilities, in our service laboratories, or both, all driven by our cloud-connected web application, accessible from anywhere, for designing, managing and analyzing experiments.

At Culture, we combine our passions for biomanufacturing, engineering, and operations to build new solutions that make bioprocess development faster. We value curiosity, communication, collaboration, a customer focused mindset and a drive for results.

The Opportunity: 

The Sr. Bioprocess Engineer is a senior technical role combining deep bioprocess expertise with client delivery, operational execution, and platform development. Following commercial engagement, you become a key technical partner for clients throughout the lifecycle of their program. You will own the technical execution of complex, multi-phase client initiatives including technical transfer, process development and optimization, and experimental campaigns across microbial fermentation, mammalian cell culture, and viral vector modalities. Beyond client work, you will also lead and contribute to internal R&D projects that advance our platform capabilities and drive innovation across the organization.

In this role, you will translate customer process requirements into structured execution plans, coordinate cross-functional teams, manage risk, and ensure delivery against scope, timeline, and quality expectations. You will work closely with clients to refine experimental strategy, anticipate technical challenges, interpret data, and guide decision-making. What sets this role apart is your hands-on technical involvement: you will directly develop and optimize bioprocesses, write and adapt fermentation control logic, troubleshoot bioreactor systems, and perform in-depth data analysis to drive scientific insights.

You will operate with high autonomy and accountability, balancing customer needs, operational constraints, R&D priorities, and platform strategy. This role requires deep bioprocess expertise combined with strong technical execution and project leadership to drive repeatable, scalable, and predictable outcomes.

Your impact will be measured not only by successful technical execution, but by long-term client trust, program expansion, operational robustness, and the scalable systems and processes you help build.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as a primary technical point of contact for assigned clients, owning the technical relationship and program delivery from onboarding through completion.
• Build trusted partnerships and operate as a strategic thought partner, advising on experimental design, process decisions, risk mitigation, and scale-up considerations.
• Translate client process requirements into structured, executable program plans that define milestones, dependencies, resources, and quality standards.
• Align and coordinate cross-functional teams across Bio Ops and Innovation, Product, Software, and Hardware to ensure seamless execution and predictable outcomes.
• Oversee and directly execute complex technical transfers and experimental campaigns, ensuring scientific rigor, reproducibility, and operational readiness.
• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot upstream bioprocesses hands-on, including bioreactor setup, operation, sampling, and process parameter optimization.
• Write, adapt, and maintain bioprocess control logic scripts in Python, including fermentation control sequences and automation workflows.
• Perform in-depth analysis of experimental and bioprocess data, building analytical approaches and synthesizing results into clear insights and actionable recommendations for clients.
• Anticipate and mitigate technical, operational, and scheduling risks before they impact scope or timelines.
• Lead and support R&D projects that advance platform capabilities, including designing experiments, evaluating new technologies or methods, and translating findings into operational improvements.
• Identify and independently carry out process improvements to workflows, including developing new protocols, SOPs, and scalable technical solutions.
• Establish and refine best practices for technical transfer, experiment tracking, and cross-team communication.
• Mentor project leads and junior team members, modeling strong technical rigor and client communication.
• Support team operations in the lab as needed, including hands-on execution of experiments, equipment preparation, and day-to-day operational workflows to ensure continuity and reliability of service delivery.
• Capture lessons learned across engagements and translate them into lasting platform and operational improvements.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned to support team and business objectives.

About You:

• 3-6+ years of industry experience working in microbial and/or mammalian fermentation, including hands-on bioreactor operation and ideally, troubleshooting.
• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in chemical engineering, biological engineering, biology, or a related field.
• Experience coding in Python and/or experience with scripting fermentation control logic.
• In-depth understanding of cell physiology.
• Experience working and communicating with external clients/partners.
• Experience leading technical improvement projects from start to finish.
• You consider yourself a strong communicator, detail-oriented, organized, and proactive.
• You enjoy helping others in the lab, sharing your knowledge, problem-solving, and you take initiative to find solutions and establish scalable workflows.
• You are empathetic, curious, and reflective; you’re able to use these skills effectively to resolve conflicts and find mutually beneficial solutions with customers.

Location & Schedule: 

This is a full-time, on-site role based at our South San Francisco site.

• Monday to Friday (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
• Weekend on-call availability for customer and operations support may be required.

Base Salary Range:

• Culture Biosciences's compensation package includes market competitive salary, equity for all full time roles, and great benefits. Our expected base salary range for this role is $110,000 - $145,000. We are hiring for multiple levels and backgrounds so final offers may vary within the range provided based on experience, expertise, and other factors.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary and equity compensation
• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance
• Medical and Dependent Care FSA (prorated based on start-date)
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Responsible Time Off (non-accrual based) policy, 11 paid company holidays and a week-long winter break
• 12 weeks of parental leave at full salary

Culture Biosciences provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. We seek to build a company that promotes inclusion and expands the diversity of our industry as a whole. We encourage people with identities underrepresented in biotech and technology to apply.