Advanced Process Modeling Expert

Role Summary

Advanced Process Modeling Expert who will develop, deploy, and maintain advanced process models and digital twins to drive control and optimization across manufacturing processes. You will develop mechanistic, hybrid, or AI/ML-based models for dynamic simulation, forecasting, and soft-sensing, and support tech transfers and product quality. Location: Zurich, Switzerland; Cambridge, MA.

Responsibilities

• Develop mechanistic, hybrid, and statistical/ML models for unit operations (e.g., bioreactors, chromatography, filtration, UF/DF), applying first principles like mass and energy balances, reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport phenomena.
• Build dynamic digital twins for scenario analysis, scale-up/scale-down evaluation, material-balance verification, and manufacturing tech transfer readiness.
• Own the full lifecycle of digital process models, from conceptual design to implementation, deployment, monitoring, and retraining.
• Prepare and structure data for dry-lab simulations by integrating sensor/historian, batch records, and Manufacturing Sciences lab data.
• Develop soft sensors for non-measurable or slow-to-measure process parameters using mechanistic correlations, ML regression, and hybrid approaches.
• Drive manufacturing optimization initiatives such as cycle-time reduction, yield improvement, process robustness studies, root-cause analyses, and failure-mode simulations.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (Chemical or Biochemical Engineering preferred); Master’s or PhD is an advantage.
• Required: Minimum of 3 years in pharmaceutical manufacturing, familiar with cGMP requirements.
• Required: Experience in digitizing industrial processes, computational modeling, process simulation, soft-sensor development, and data analytics.
• Required: Proficiency in AI, machine learning, and statistical methods for data-driven decision-making.
• Required: Strong expertise in scientific modeling mechanistic and hybrid modeling; experience with flow-sheeting software such as gPROMS.
• Preferred: Familiarity with Discoverant, SIMCA Online/Offline, OSI PI, Databricks, and AWS.
• Required: Strong programming skills in Python (Julia is a plus).
• Preferred: Familiarity with Agile project management (Scrum/Kanban in Jira).
• Required: Clear communicator capable of explaining technical concepts to non-experts.
• Required: Curious and open to leveraging new digital tools and methodologies to improve industrial processes.
• Required: Fluent in English.

Skills

• Python programming; knowledge of Julia is a plus
• AI, machine learning, and statistical methods for data-driven decision-making
• Mechanistic and hybrid modeling
• Process simulation and soft-sensor development
• Data integration from sensors, historian data, batch records, and manufacturing labs
• Communication of technical concepts to non-experts

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (Chemical or Biochemical Engineering preferred); Master’s or PhD advantageous