Associate Principal Scientist - Modelling and Simulation

Job Description

At AstraZeneca, we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicines, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration. Always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development.

In Pharmaceutical Technology & Development (PT&D), within AstraZeneca Operations, we believe that nothing is impossible, and we are determined to push the boundaries of science to deliver medicines to our patients. We combine people’s technical knowledge and understanding with their talent and drive to design, develop and optimise processes that deliver our medicines in a sustainable, commercially viable way. Our ambition is to establish a strong predictive science culture by utilisation of state-of-the art modelling and simulation technologies to carry out our research and experimental work in the most efficient way.

To achieve our bold ambition, we have an open position for an experience scientist/engineer in the Modelling & Simulation team.

The role

In this role you will join the modelling and simulation team to develop and implement predictive tools to accelerate development of robust drug substance and drug product manufacturing processes. You will work with project teams, process engineers, mathematicians, chemists, pharmacists, materials and data scientists as well as analytical and artificial intelligence experts, to build and validate models, perform in-silico analyses, and interpret results for decision making on projects.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and utilise digital twins in drug substance and drug product manufacturing process development to establish manufacturing processes as well as de-risk scaleup and tech-transfer by in-silico design space exploration and process optimisation.
• Work closely with modelling and simulation team, subject matter experts and project associates to develop appropriate workflows for utilisation of predictive tools in pharmaceutical development and for exploitation in manufacture.
• Coach and upskill process engineers by delivering trainings/workshops and sharing good practices of using modelling and simulation tools in pharmaceutical development.
• Support defining and establishing model/data standards, workflows for model verification and validation, data collection, experiment conditions and sampling, etc.
• Drive democratisation of modelling and simulation tools by developing automated, documented and verified workflows to make simulation tools accessible to a wider community of process engineers, chemists and pharmacists.
• Keep abreast of global developments in your area by attending relevant events such as conferences, webinars, and workshops and being active member of relevant networks and working groups.
• Ensure access to state-of-the-art tools and technologies through engaging in pre-competitive collaborative projects, initiatives with academia and software vendors, etc.

Essential skills and qualifications:

• PhD or MSc/MEng in chemical engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics or related discipline.
• A few years post-graduate industrial work experience in a relevant field.
• Experience using modelling and simulation tools like gPROMS, DynoChem, Aspen, Ansys Fluent/CFX, Ansys Rocky or similar software packages in research or industrial projects.
• Strong coding skills and experience of using standard programming languages like Python, MATLAB, etc.
• Ability to build mathematical models of physical/chemical phenomena and solve them using appropriate coding tools.
• Ability to modify/enhance existing models to improve their efficiency/predictability and/or upgrade their functionality for a new context of use.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Cultural awareness

Desirable skills:

• Experience using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and/or discrete element method (DEM) tools in simulating of complex, multi-physics systems (e.g. multiphase flow).
• Experience with process scale-up and working knowledge of unit operations (e.g. reactors, mixing, distillation, extraction, membrane, chromatography, crystallization, filtration, drying, etc.) in pharmaceutical drug substance manufacturing.
• Experience developing and implementing model-assisted process control (e.g., coupling PSE’s gPROMS and PharmaMV, etc.)

At AstraZeneca, we are driven by our commitment to deliver accelerated growth and make people's lives better. We thrive on innovation and collaboration, constantly seeking new challenges and solutions. Our inclusive environment supports personal growth and development while working towards our shared goal of transforming molecules into medicines. With a focus on sustainability and cutting-edge science, we are dedicated to making a positive impact on global health.

Ready to make a difference? Apply, with your CV and cover letter

Date Posted

17-Jul-2025

Closing Date

24-Jul-2025Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.