--- title: 'Director, Global Drug Substance Commercialization, Polysaccharide at Vaxcyte' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-global-drug-substance-commercialization-polysaccharide-vaxcyte-san-rvfmdcgec6sk' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-26' --- # Director, Global Drug Substance Commercialization, Polysaccharide at Vaxcyte - **Company:** Vaxcyte - **Location:** San Carlos, CA - **Posted:** 2026-10-21 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-26 - **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/vaxcyte/jobs/5456862008?gh_jid=5456862008 ## Job description Join our Mission to Protect Humankind! Vaxcyte is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases, which have serious and costly health consequences when left unchecked. Working to eradicate or treat bacterial infections such as invasive pneumococcal disease, Group A Strep, and Shigella is just the beginning. Our path to success is clear and well-defined, and Vaxcyte is set up to go the distance. WHAT we do is every bit as important as HOW we do it! Our work together is guided by four enduring core values: *RETHINK CONVENTION: We bring creative and intellectual diversity to every facet of the work we do in order to innovate and re-innovate the way vaccines are delivered. *AIM HIGH: We embody our collectively audacious goal to courageously make the most complex biologics ever attempted to protect humankind. *LEAD WITH HEART: Everyone leads at Vaxcyte with a kindness-first, inclusive approach to collaboration and vigorous debate that advances our business objectives. *MODEL EXCELLENCE:  The magnitude of our challenge requires our shared commitment to demonstrating integrity, accountability, equality and clarity across communications and decision making. Summary: The Director for Drug Substance Commercialization of Polysaccharides will lead assigned commercialization workstreams and facilitate overall launch readiness and commercial supply of the polysaccharides used in glycoconjugate vaccines. This role focuses on technical launch planning and execution by bringing best-practices and coordinating cross-functional efforts for regulatory filings, facility readiness, and launch supplies. This role also provides leadership to ensure that the organization is equipped to effectively communicate the scientific and commercial rationale for critical raw material manufacturing processes to internal stakeholders, relevant CMOs, and to regulatory agencies. The incumbent will work with the organization to ensure on-time execution and appropriate planning for commercial lifecycle management. This position will be reporting into the Senior Director for Global Polysaccharide Commercialization. The Director will collaborate on overall program strategy, with primary responsibility and accountability for the Polysaccharide component strategy. Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT) is responsible for successfully and seamlessly transitioning the vaccine process from Process Development to Commercial, developing and executing technical launch and commercialization strategy, continuously improving process robustness through to end of lifecycle, and ensuring best possible patient outcomes while creating value for the enterprise. As part of the Commercial Manufacturing and Supply Chain organization, MSAT will lead the technical and process support for end-to-end commercial manufacturing, including Polysaccharides, Carrier Proteins, and Conjugation across all Drug Substances (DS). The range of activities will include technology transfer support, process characterization experiments in support of validation, process improvement, evaluation of novel process technologies, investigation of process related manufacturing issues, ensuring continuous improvement in process robustness throughout the product life cycle, etc. Essential Functions: - DS Commercialization – Provide strategic and scientific leadership for polysaccharides with internal and external stakeholders and ensure successful execution of launch plans and post-launch commercial activities by translating strategy into execution plans and ensuring completion of key technical milestones. - Organization and capability building – Develop technical capabilities within the polysaccharide commercialization organization and support resource and staffing recommendations needed to achieve program and organizational objectives. Contribute to building a highly skilled team capable of supporting the global manufacturing network. - Process robustness – Continuously improve process understanding and process robustness using staff and laboratory resources across the organization to monitor, trend, and optimize operations. - Interface – Coordinate cross-functional deliverables across the network, including Regulatory, CMC, Quality, Supply Chain, Procurement, and Process Engineering, to drive the successful development and commercial launch of polysaccharides for pipeline products. Identify, communicate, and escalate technical and supply risks that may impact program execution or commercial supply. - Tech-transfer and new technologies – Ensure robust processes exist to support technical transfers and integration of new technologies, providing technical oversight to support successful execution across internal and external manufacturing sites. - Support technical services – Support our internal and external manufacturing network, including materials management and data analytics, and provide technical oversight of CMOs to support reliable manufacturing and commercial supply. - Process validation and comparability – Provide leadership for the execution of process validation and process comparability activities. Effectively communicate the scientific and commercial rationale for polysaccharide processes to the Manufacturing organization for commercialization. - Regulatory – Engage in technical review and authoring of regulatory filings and respond to questions received from health authorities. Effectively communicate the scientific and commercial rationale for polysaccharide processes to Boards of Health for regulatory submissions supporting commercialization. - Communicate – Effectively and efficiently communicate process performance to key stakeholders, both internal and external. Connect and build strong working relationships with others, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively. - Leadership – Lead assigned polysaccharide commercialization programs and technical workstreams, coordinating execution across stakeholders and contributing as a member of the Global Manufacturing Operations organization, with an aim to ensure effective and efficient delivery of our life-enhancing therapies to our patients. - Travel - 10-30% travel required. Requirements: - Degree(s) in Chemical or Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related discipline with a minimum of 10+ years of relevant experience for Ph.D., 12+ years for M.S./M.A., or 16+ years for B.S./B.A. - Extensive experience in biologic production processes, including bacterial fermentation, recovery, and purification across multiple operational scales. Experience with polysaccharides and glycoconjugate vaccines highly preferred. - Leadership experience in MSAT or Process Development in supervisory and/or matrixed team roles. - Able to leverage deep technical knowledge in a collaborative manner to establish strategic plans and achieve collective goals. - Excellent organization, problem solving and strategic planning skills. - Highly skilled in both verbal and written communication with the ability to interact effectively with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives. - Proactively recognizes needs and potential challenges, and directs activities to implement effective solutions. - The ability to seek and analyze data from a variety of sources to support decisions and to align others with the organization's overall strategy. - An entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will stretch the organization and push the boundaries within the industry. Reports to: Senior Director, Global Polysaccharide Commercialization Lead Location: United States Work Arrangement (may be adjusted based on business needs, job responsibilities, or changes to company policy): Remote Compensation: The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component. Salary Range: $223,000 - $261,000 (SF Bay Area). Salary ranges for non-California locations may vary. Relocation: This role is not eligible for relocation assistance. ## Equal Opportunity We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. Recruitment Fraud Notice Please be aware of fraud or scams from individuals, organizations and/or internet sites claiming to represent Vaxcyte in recruitment activities. Vaxcyte has an established recruitment process for all positions prior to issuing an offer for employment and we will never extend unsolicited employment offers or ask candidates to provide financial or sensitive personal information as part of the application process. All legitimate communication from Vaxcyte will come from an official @vaxcyte.com email address. Qualified and interested candidates should apply to current openings at [vaxcyte.com/careers](https://vaxcyte.com/careers/). ## About Vaxcyte ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Vaxcyte is a clinical-stage biotechnology company re-engineering how vaccines are made to eliminate bacterial infections, using a cell-free protein synthesis platform to develop high-fidelity, broad-spectrum vaccines. - **Entity Type**: Public (Ticker: PCVX) - **Headquarters**: San Carlos, California, United States - **Founded**: 2013 (as SutroVax; rebranded to Vaxcyte in 2020) - **Founders**: Not publicly available (the company emerged from Sutro Biopharma’s spin-out) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Biotechnology / Vaccines (Infectious Disease) - **Target customers**: Global healthcare systems, public health organizations, and ultimately patients (B2B/Institutional); the company develops vaccines for both pediatric and adult populations. - **Mission or purpose**: To protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial infections, eliminating diseases like invasive pneumococcal disease, Group A Strep, and Shigella. ## Products & Services - **VAX-31 (31-valent PCV)**: A broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate in Phase 3 for adults and Phase 2 for infants. Designed to cover over 95% of circulating IPD serotypes in U.S. adults 50+ and ~94% in infants. FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation granted. - **VAX-24 (24-valent PCV)**: A pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate in Phase 2 for infants, designed to cover more serotypes than any infant PCV on the market today. - **VAX-A1 (Group A Strep)**: A preclinical conjugate vaccine candidate for Group A Strep, a disease with no currently approved vaccine. Phase 1 first-in-human study (adults) underway in Australia. - **VAX-GI (Shigella)**: A novel preclinical vaccine candidate targeting Shigella, a leading cause of diarrheal disease. - **Platform Technology**: A proprietary cell-free protein synthesis platform that enables site-specific, carrier-sparing conjugation to produce precisely targeted vaccines with enhanced immunogenicity. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: ~$16.7 billion (as of early July 2026) - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised (private) is not applicable; as a public company, key metrics include cash position (~$2.0 billion as of Q1 2026) and R&D investment. The company is pre-revenue. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Major institutional investors include Baker Bros. Advisors, Fidelity, and funds managed by BlackRock. Key partnership: exclusive license agreement with Sutro Biopharma for its cell-free protein synthesis platform. - **Growth Signals**: - Up to $1 billion commitment to expanding U.S. manufacturing with a new facility in North Carolina. - VAX-31 Phase 3 program (OPUS-1, OPUS-2, OPUS-3) topline data expected Q4 2026 – H1 2027. - Headcount growth: actively hiring across 100+ roles (Analytical, Commercial, Clinical, Conjugation, Quality, Regulatory). - Recognized as a Great Place to Work and Best Workplace in BioPharma (multiple years). ## Competitive Advantages - **Broadest-spectrum PCV candidates**: VAX-31 is the broadest-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the clinic, targeting up to 31 serotypes. - **Differentiated platform**: Cell-free protein synthesis allows for the creation of complex, high-fidelity vaccines that can overcome bacterial defense mechanisms (e.g., capsule-switching) that limit conventional cell-based vaccines. - **Carrier-sparing technology**: Site-specific conjugation enables a higher valency (more serotypes) without compromising immunogenicity or tolerability. - **Manufacturing scale**: Significant investment in U.S.-based production capacity provides a long-term supply chain advantage and aligns with "Investing in America" initiatives. ## Strategic Focus - **Primary**: Advance VAX-31 and VAX-24 through late-stage clinical trials to secure regulatory approval and establish a new standard of care for pneumococcal disease. - **Pipeline expansion**: Advance VAX-A1 (Group A Strep) and VAX-GI (Shigella) candidates through early clinical development. - **Manufacturing**: Scale up internal manufacturing capabilities to support commercial launch and global supply. - **Commercial readiness**: Building a commercial organization (e.g., hiring a VP of U.S. Market Access & Pricing, Senior Director of Product Launch) to prepare for potential VAX-31 launch. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Described as a "kindness-first" mindset with a focus on audacious goals, collaboration, and mutual support. Recognized as a *Great Place to Work* and *Best Workplace in BioPharma* (Fortune). - **Work Model**: Hybrid, Remote, and Onsite options available depending on role. San Carlos HQ offers a hybrid schedule. - **Total Rewards**: 100% paid health, dental, and vision insurance; 401k matching; flexible PTO and holidays; paid parental and sick leave; equity awards (stock options & RSUs); Employee Stock Purchase Plan; lifestyle spending account; mental health and wellness resources. - **Growth & Development**: Strong emphasis on learning culture, professional advancement through coaching, and career development programs. - **Mission-driven**: Employees are directly contributing to creating vaccines that protect every child born and every adult at risk from bacterial infections globally. ## Sources 1. [vaxcyte.com](https://vaxcyte.com/) 2. [vaxcyte.com/careers](https://vaxcyte.com/careers/) 3. [vaxcyte.com/job-listings](https://vaxcyte.com/job-listings/) 4. [vaxcyte.com/culture](https://vaxcyte.com/culture/) 5. 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