--- title: 'Staff Scientist, Immunoassay Development at Vaxcyte' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-scientist-immunoassay-development-vaxcyte-san-carlos-bt62d6ttsd6s' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-19' --- # Staff Scientist, Immunoassay Development at Vaxcyte - **Company:** Vaxcyte - **Location:** San Carlos, CA - **Posted:** 2026-10-02 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19 - **Apply:** https://boards.greenhouse.io/vaxcyte/jobs/5371032008?gh_jid=5371032008 ## 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: Vaxcyte is seeking an accomplished Staff Scientist, Immunoassay Developmentto join the CMC Immunoassay group. This role will provide scientific and strategic leadership for the development, qualification, characterization, governance, and lifecycle management of critical reagents and reference materials that support immunoassays across Vaxcyte's vaccine pipeline. The Staff Scientist will serve as a hands-on technical expert responsible for strengthening Vaxcyte’s immunoassay capability across the vaccine pipeline. This includes developing new fit-for-purpose immunoassays, evaluating innovative immunoassay platforms, advancing assay robustness, supporting method transfer and validation readiness, contributing to immunoassay control strategy, and providing senior-level scientific guidance to cross-functional teams. This is not a primary people-management role. The Staff Scientist may mentor junior scientists and influence technical direction across programs, but the primary accountability is scientific depth, independent technical contribution, experimental strategy, complex data interpretation, and advancement of immunoassay capability. Essential Functions: - Serve as a senior technical expert and individual contributor for immunoassay development across Vaxcyte’s vaccine pipeline. - Lead and directly execute complex laboratory studies supporting immunoassay development, optimization, platform evaluation, qualification readiness, validation readiness, method transfer support, lifecycle management, and routine analytical testing. - Develop new fit-for-purpose immunoassays supporting potency, antigenicity, identity, impurity, characterization, comparability, release, stability, and lifecycle needs. - Provide scientific leadership for assay design, including assay format selection, sample preparation strategy, reagent strategy, plate or bead format selection, signal detection approach, system suitability, data analysis model, robustness assessment, and control strategy considerations. - Evaluate innovative and alternative immunoassay platforms and formats, including ELISA, MSD, multiplex assays, bead-based assays, automation-enabled workflows, and other ligand-binding technologies. - Design and execute studies to compare assay platforms and translate experimental findings into scientific recommendations for method selection, optimization, and long-term control strategy. - Independently troubleshoot immunoassay performance trends using structured, data-driven experimental approaches and clear documentation of observations, conclusions, and recommendations. - Interpret complex immunoassay data, including standard curves, sample interpolation, dilution response, parallelism, recovery, precision, specificity, assay controls, system suitability, robustness, comparability, and long-term method performance. - Contribute to immunoassay analytical control strategies, including critical reagent strategy, reference material strategy, sample preparation, assay controls, system suitability, bridging approaches, trending, robustness evaluation, and lifecycle monitoring. - Support routine testing within the CMC Immunoassay, including development-stage testing, characterization testing, platform evaluation studies, comparability support, reagent qualification, reference material qualification, and non-GMP or GMP-supporting analytical activities. - Provide senior-level technical guidance to scientists and research associates on experimental design, assay execution, data interpretation, troubleshooting, documentation, and good laboratory practices. - Support outsourced immunoassay activities with CROs, CDMOs, contract testing laboratories, reagent vendors, and technology partners by providing technical input, protocol review, data review, issue resolution, and deliverable assessment. - Author and review study protocols, technical reports, method development reports, platform evaluation summaries, validation-support documents, comparability packages, and regulatory-supporting documentation. - Represent Immunoassay Development as a technical subject matter expert in project teams, cross-functional technical discussions, vendor meetings, and internal scientific reviews. - Partner with Analytical Development, ASAT, QC, Process Development, Manufacturing, Quality, Clinical Serology, Regulatory, Program Management, and external partners to support CMC deliverables and program timelines. - Stay current with emerging immunoassay technologies, platform innovations, automation opportunities, and best practices that may strengthen Vaxcyte’s immunoassay capability. - Perform all work with strong commitment to scientific rigor, data integrity, documentation quality, laboratory safety, accountability, and continuous improvement. Requirements: - PhD. in Biochemistry, Immunology, Analytical Chemistry, Biological Sciences, or a related discipline is preferred with a minimum of 8 years of relevant biopharmaceutical industry experience; or M.S. in a related discipline with a minimum of 13 years of relevant biopharmaceutical industry experience; or B.S. in a related discipline with a minimum of 16 years of relevant biopharmaceutical industry experience. - Significant hands-on, lab-based experience developing, optimizing, troubleshooting, transferring, lifecycle-supporting, and executing immunoassays in vaccine CMC, biologics analytical development, QC, ASAT, or other regulated analytical environments. - Demonstrated scientific depth in immunoassay method development, including assay format selection, reagent strategy, sample preparation, assay optimization, robustness assessment, qualification support, validation readiness, method transfer support, and lifecycle management. - Strong technical experience with ligand-binding immunoassay platforms such as ELISA, MSD, electrochemiluminescence-based assays, bead-based assays, multiplex assays, or other relevant immunoassay technologies. - Demonstrated ability to independently design experiments, interpret complex data, troubleshoot assay performance trends, and make sound scientific recommendations. - Experience evaluating innovative immunoassay platforms and translating platform learnings into fit-for-purpose analytical strategies. - Experience supporting potency, antigenicity, identity, impurity, characterization, comparability, release, stability, process development, method transfer, validation-support, routine testing, or regulatory-supporting assays. - Experience contributing to immunoassay control strategies, including critical reagents, reference materials, assay controls, system suitability, bridging, trending, and lifecycle monitoring. - Experience supporting outsourced immunoassay activities with CROs, CDMOs, contract testing laboratories, reagent vendors, or technology partners is desired. - Experience working in or supporting GMP-regulated analytical environments is desired. - Hands-on experience with MSD platforms is highly desirable. - Hands-on experience with multiplex or other multiplex immunoassay platforms is a plus. - Demonstrated ability to mentor junior scientists and influence technical direction without relying on formal people-management authority. - Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly communicate complex scientific concepts, data interpretation, technical risks, and recommendations. - Direct experience with conjugated vaccines, polysaccharide-protein conjugates, multivalent vaccines, or other complex biologics is strongly preferred. Preferred Qualifications: - Experience supporting late-stage development, PPQ readiness, BLA preparation, commercial readiness, or lifecycle management of vaccine or biologics programs. - Experience contributing to regulatory submissions, health authority responses, technical reports, method development reports, or validation-support documentation. - Experience with automation, high-throughput immunoassay workflows, multiplex assay design, LIMS, ELN, and digital data analysis tools. - Experience helping build or scale analytical capabilities or technical platforms within a growing organization. Reports to: Senior Director, Global Analytical Lead – Commercial Readiness and Analytical Strategy Location: San Carlos, CA Work Arrangement (may be adjusted based on business needs, job responsibilities, or changes to company policy): Onsite (minimum of 4 days per week onsite) Compensation: The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component. Salary Range: $209,000 - $244,000 (SF Bay Area). ## 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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