Senior Scientist – Pharmaceutical Formulation

Yoh Life Sciences is hiring a Senior Scientist – Pharmaceutical Formulation & Process Development for a direct-hire opportunity with a pharmaceutical manufacturing organization in Rosenberg, TX (Greater Houston).

This is a senior-level, hands-on individual contributor position focused on pharmaceutical formulation and process development, experimental execution, scale-up, troubleshooting, and technology transfer. The ideal candidate will bring significant pharmaceutical-industry experience and the ability to personally translate product-development objectives into scientifically sound experiments, robust manufacturing processes, and successful scale-up and technology-transfer activities.

Title: Senior Scientist – Pharmaceutical Formulation & Process Development

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Salary: $105,000–$120,000/year

Location: Rosenberg, TX – Greater Houston

Schedule: Monday–Friday, approximately 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Work Arrangement: Fully onsite

Limited relocation assistance may be available in the form of a sign-on bonus for qualified candidates.

Position Summary

Working under the direction of the Director of Research and Development, the Senior Scientist will personally design and execute formulation and process-development studies from laboratory scale through pilot, engineering, technology-transfer, and manufacturing activities.

The position requires a strong and consistent presence in the laboratory and pilot-plant environment. This is not a people-management or primarily administrative role. The Senior Scientist is expected to remain technically hands-on while serving as a senior scientific resource to other members of the R&D organization.

The role may support pharmaceutical finished-dosage-form programs including oral products, liquids, semi-solids, and suppository/pessary products, as applicable, across cosmetic, 510(k), ANDA, NDA, and other development programs.

Responsibilities

• Design and personally execute pharmaceutical formulation and process-development experiments.
• Develop and optimize finished drug-product formulations and manufacturing processes.
• Evaluate API and excipient properties, compatibility, formulation robustness, and product performance.
• Design scientifically sound experimental plans based on product objectives and development risks.
• Generate, analyze, and interpret experimental data and recommend scientifically justified next steps.
• Apply Quality by Design (QbD) and Design of Experiments (DOE) principles to formulation and process development.
• Identify and evaluate Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs), Critical Material Attributes (CMAs), and Critical Process Parameters (CPPs).
• Perform process optimization, characterization, scale-up, and technology-transfer activities.
• Translate laboratory processes into robust pilot-scale and commercial manufacturing processes.
• Evaluate manufacturing variables including mixing, shear, homogenization, temperature, order of addition, processing time, hold time, transfer, and filling parameters.
• Troubleshoot formulation, process, scale-up, and manufacturing issues through experimentation and root-cause analysis.
• Provide hands-on technical support during pilot, engineering, scale-up, registration, validation, technology-transfer, and manufacturing activities.
• Support investigations involving process deviations, product-performance issues, and manufacturing challenges.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Engineering, Analytical Development, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and Project Management.
• Prepare and maintain laboratory notebooks, protocols, batch documentation, experimental records, technical reports, and development summaries.
• Operate appropriate laboratory and pilot-scale pharmaceutical processing equipment.
• Support technical-transfer documentation and manufacturing implementation.
• Serve as a senior technical resource and mentor scientists and laboratory technicians without formal personnel-management responsibility.
• Manage multiple technical assignments while maintaining ownership of quality, documentation, and timelines.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• PhD required in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related scientific or engineering discipline.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant pharmaceutical-industry development experience required.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in pharmaceutical formulation development and process development required.
• Demonstrated experience taking pharmaceutical products or processes from laboratory development through scal