We offer a position for a senior postdoc/assistant professor (UD) level in gene therapy within the UMC Utrecht. To this end, the assistant professor will work in a division overarching team that strives to accelerate clinical development gene therapies by focusing on one of the current main obstacles in this field: efficient delivery of gene products to the organs and cell types of interest. You will develop optimal viral delivery vectors. We are looking for a molecular biologist with knowledge and experience in viral vector development and production for in vivo delivery and efficacy. The project is funded by the Governmental Sector Money and aims to build an in-house gene therapy platform within UMC Utrecht, to support development of gene therapy. For this team, three new members are recruited to sdevelop both ex vivo and in vivo genetic therapies for early phase clinical trials (through the Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT) and in vivo gene therapies through viral delivery (in the department of Translational Neurosciences) and non-viral delivery strategies for different gene-products (in the department of Metabolic Diseases in the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht (RMCU). Your role is to develop viral vector material, apply gene therapy in vivo (mostly in preclinical mouse models) and assess the delivery and efficacy in vivo.

• A PhD in a relevant field (Biopharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Virology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology) and affinity with applied virology including viral vector development, production and delivery.
• An MSc in a relevant field with a minimum of 5 years relevant work experience with applied virology including gene therapy delivery.
• Knowledge in viral vector design and delivery, in designing minimal promoters for cell specific targeting, prime editing, scRNAseq, analytical characterization, and process development with hands-on experience in viral transductions, flow cytometry, and quantitative gene expression analyses (ddPCR, qPCR, RNAseq).
• Hands-on expertise of viral vector production (RV, LV and/or AAV using HEK293 cell line or other suspension cell lines) and experience with viral risk assessments, viral safety testing and control strategies.
• Experience with delivery of gene therapy in vivo.
• The candidate should be self-motivated, accountable, inquisitive, and have excellent organization and communication skills (written and verbal).
• Possess the ability to present technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Professional proficiency in English (written and spoken) is a requirement.
• Ability to think analytically, problem-solving skills, drive to succeed.
• You enjoy working in an innovation driven, highly collaborative and fast paced environment.
• You should be able to work independently as well as collaborate with other team members with interdisciplinary background and international environment; you have essential social skills for fruitful interactions.
• You must be available fulltime.

The maximum salary for this position (36 - 36 hours) is € 6.156,00 gross per month based on full-time employment.

In addition, we offer an annual benefit of 8.3%, holiday allowance, travel expenses and career opportunities. The terms of employment are in accordance with the Cao University Medical Centers (UMC).

The position is embedded within the UMC Utrecht at the Department of Translational Neuroscience. The project focusses on building an in-house viral vector production platform within UMC Utrecht, to support development of gene therapy. In addition to this embedding, the postdoc will be team member of the UMCU gene-therapy delivery platform and thus closely collaborate with the other UMC Utrecht groups working on gene therapies, in particular with Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT) and Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht (RMCU).