More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a late-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision investigational cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.

We have built a state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA (7910 Metro Air Pkwy) to ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of our high-precision cell therapy products. This site is essential to advancing our clinical pipeline and supporting future commercial availability of our life-saving therapies.

The Engineer, MSAT works to improve the efficiency and safety of the drug product manufacturing process. This role is responsible for life cycle management of commercial products including process monitoring and troubleshooting, implementation and validation of process improvements and changes, and supporting investigations and corrective/preventive actions.

Physical Demands

Production Associate Roles: Must have visual acuity of 20/20 (corrected or uncorrected) and normal color vision to safely perform critical tasks such as visual inspection of materials, equipment, and labeling, including distinguishing color-coded components in a GMP environment.
Most roles must be able to meet cleanroom gowning requirements, including wearing full gowning (face coverings, gloves, hoods, goggles) for extended periods, as needed. Use of cosmetics (makeup, painted nails), jewelry, or facial piercings is not permitted in the cleanroom, and any skin conditions that cause shedding must be disclosed.

Work Conditions

Many roles must be able to work at either Orca Bio Sacramento location (3400 Business Dr. or 7910 Metro Air Pkwy) based on operational needs, as well as regularly participate in video-based meetings. Also, may be required to work scheduled overtime, weekends, or holidays based on business needs.

Essential Duties & Key Responsibilities:

Performs ongoing monitoring of existing commercial products and processes
Generate metrics and reports for process monitoring and continuous process verification
Support process improvements and changes including electronic batch record creation and modifications
Performs Out of Trend Investigations based on trends from process monitoring
Provides troubleshooting support for manufacturing events, equipment performance and material issues
Performs root cause analysis to isolate cause of events and determine appropriate corrective actions
Authors and owns change controls, technical protocols, reports and activities to support process improvements
Writes and ensures proper execution of validation protocols and testing in line with required life cycle management activities
Leads design, project management and execution of MSAT projects, introduction of new materials, and equipment at multiple GMP facilities
Assess potential impact of supplier changes, material changes, Drug product labels, Drug Product packaging and cold chain transport changes and excursions

Minimum Qualifications:

B.S. in Engineering or similar fields
3+ years of experience with manufacturing processes and equipment in related fields: biologics, pharmaceutical fill and finish or drug substance manufacturing, Chemical or food industries
Prior experience in regulated, GMP manufacturing operations
Experience with data analysis and trending using JMP or other statistical software
Follow cleanroom protocols, e.g. no cosmetics including make-up, painted nails, jewelry or piercings, and must disclose any shedding skin condition

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience in biotechnology and cell therapy manufacturing preferred
Experience with commercial packaging, labeling, and cold chain strongly preferred
Excellent communication and problem solving skills, with a desire to improve upon established processes

The anticipated annual salary range for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. For remote-based positions, this range may vary based on your local market. Full-time employment positions will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity and annual bonus, in addition to competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include subsidized daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.

Who we are

We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.

We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.

We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.

We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.

Notice to staffing firms

Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.

Engineer, Manufacturing Sciences & Technology (MSAT)