Senior Expert Science & Technology – Downstream Process Modelling

Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 250 million people worldwide.

The Technology and User Services (TUS) group in NX is driven to help users use tools effectively to improve productivity and foster innovation. We deliver the Technology and User Services (TUS) group in NX to help customers use tools effectively to improve productivity and foster innovation. Our organization is here providing the technology backbone and devices that enable users to work in an office, lab or mobile environment.

Senior Expert Science & Technology – Downstream Process Modelling

As a Senior Expert Science & Technology in Downstream Process Development, you will play a key role in advancing model‑based development and decision making for biologics purification processes. You will develop, apply, and deploy mechanistic and hybrid models with a strong focus on chromatography, while also covering other downstream unit operations and their interconnection into integrated process flows.
This role combines deep scientific expertise, hands‑on experimental work, and digital implementation. You will work closely with project teams, process development scientists, data scientists, and manufacturing stakeholders, and you will be an active member of a global modelling community shaping the future of downstream development at Novartis.

In this role, you will:

• Develop and apply downstream process models for biologics, with a strong emphasis on
• chromatography (e.g. IEX, HIC, MMC, affinity) and their underlying physicochemical principles.
• Extend modelling approaches to other downstream unit operations (e.g. filtration, UF/DF, viral inactivation) and connect individual steps into integrated DSP models to support process understanding and optimization.
• Design, plan, and execute laboratory experiments to generate high‑quality data for model development, calibration, and validation, working hands‑on in the lab when required.
• Use modelling to support process design, scale‑up, troubleshooting, robustness studies, and decision making across early and late development.
• Implement and deploy models using Python, including development of user‑friendly tools or apps that enable broader adoption by project teams and stakeholders.
• Translate complex modelling results into clear, actionable insights for multidisciplinary audiences, including process scientists, project leaders, and management.
• Collaborate and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment between modelling activities, experimental work, and project objectives.
• Actively contribute to and help shape the global modelling community, sharing best practices, methodologies, and innovations across sites and functions.
• Contribute to scientific documentation, technical reports, and regulatory‑relevant deliverables as required.

What you will bring

Education & experience

• MSc, PhD, or equivalent experience in Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, or a related field.
• Several years of experience in biologics downstream process development, with demonstrated focus on process modelling.
• Strong, hands‑on expertise in chromatography, including mechanistic understanding of separation phenomena.

Technical expertise

• Proven experience in downstream process modelling, ideally including chromatography modelling, parameter estimation, scale‑down/scale‑up concepts, and integration of multiple unit operations.
• Ability to design and run experiments to support model development and validation.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with experience in building reusable tools, workflows, or applications for broader user groups.
• Familiarity with data analysis, visualization, and model deployment concepts is a strong advantage.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams' representative of the patients and communities we serve.