Chemist III

NPI Chemist III in Albuquerque, NM

Build your future at Curia, where our work has the power to save lives

Curia is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with over 30 years of experience partnering with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to provide life-saving treatments to patients. At Curia, we are on a mission to advance our customers’ therapies from curiosity to cure and ultimately to improve patients’ lives.

We proudly offer

•    Generous benefit options (eligible first day of employment)
•    Paid training, vacation and holidays (vacation accrual begins on first day of employment)
•    Career advancement opportunities
•    Education reimbursement
•    401K program with matching contributions
•    Learning platform
•    And more!

As a member of the NPI Tech Transfer Team, this position is responsible for supporting New Product Introduction (NPI) and technology transfer activities within their assigned functional area (e.g., Quality, Technical Operations, Validation, Microbiology, Analytical Sciences, Manufacturing, etc.). This role serves as the primary Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the functional area throughout the NPI lifecycle, providing technical leadership, risk assessment, planning, execution support, and operational readiness to ensure successful transfer and efficient commercialization of new products.
Working as a core member of the NPI Tech Transfer Team, the SME collaborates closely with Program Management, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, as a member of the customer-facing team, working to drive project execution through Tech Transfer stage gates, facilitate knowledge transfer, identify and mitigate risks, and ensure compliance with site procedures, regulatory requirements, and customer expectations. The position is dedicated to NPI activities and serves as the functional customer-facing point of contact for multiple concurrent tech transfer programs.
The NPI, Chemist III provides advanced analytical expertise and technical leadership within the Chemistry Department, with primary responsibility for supporting new product introduction (NPI), internal manufacturing, and external customer programs. This role independently performs and troubleshoots complex analytical testing and leads analytical workstreams for new products, including method assessment, development, transfer, verification, validation, laboratory readiness, protocol development, protocol execution, data interpretation, and report preparation. The NPI, Chemist III serves as a customer-facing technical representative for analytical activities, communicating project status, technical risks, investigation outcomes, and scientifically justified recommendations in coordination with Quality and Project Management. The role authors and reviews protocols, reports, methods, specifications, investigations, change controls, and technical summaries; coordinates cross-functional and external laboratory activities; and ensures analytical documentation is accurate, complete, data-integrity compliant, and inspection ready. The NPI, Chemist III also mentors laboratory personnel, supports regulatory inspections and continuous improvement, and maintains compliance with cGMP, GLP, safety, aseptic gowning, and applicable regulatory requirements.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
•    Act as the designated functional SME for all assigned NPI and technology transfer projects.
•    Participate in cross-functional Tech Transfer teams from project initiation through commercial launch.
•    Lead discipline-specific assessments, gap analyses, risk evaluations, and readiness reviews.
•    Support development and execution of project plans, timelines, and deliverables required for Tech Transfer stage gates.
•    Provide technical expertise during customer meetings, technical discussions, audits, and governance reviews.
•    Partner with Program Managers to identify project risks, mitigation plans, and escalation pathways.
•    Ensure functional deliverables, documentation, and approvals are completed in accordance with established procedures and project timelines.
•    Drive operational readiness activities necessary to support development, validation, and commercial manufacturing.
•    Support knowledge transfer activities between sending and receiving organizations, ensuring effective and efficient transfer of process, product, analytical, and operational knowledge.
•    Participate in Technical Review Boards (TRBs), stage gate reviews, and leadership governance meetings.
•    Collaborate with cross-functional departments to resolve technical challenges and remove execution barriers.
•    Contribute to continuous improvement of NPI and Tech Transfer processes, tools, templates, and best practices.
•    Serve as a subject matter expert for analytical testing, instrumentation, and NPI laboratory implementation; independently perform, develop, optimize, and troubleshoot complex testing using equipment such as balances, pipettes, pH meters, UV/Visible spectrophotometers, TOC analyzers, IR, HPLC, and related laboratory instrumentation.
•    Perform and review analytical testing of raw materials, in-process samples, finished products, stability samples, water, and particulates in accordance with approved methods, specifications, and regulatory requirements.
•    Analyze, interpret, trend, and summarize analytical data; evaluate method performance and product-specific risks; and communicate scientifically sound findings, risks, options, and recommendations to management, customers, and cross-functional teams.
•    Author, review, approve where delegated, and execute analytical protocols and reports for method development, transfer, verification, validation, comparability, stability, feasibility, and new product laboratory implementation.
•    Develop analytical strategies and protocol acceptance criteria that are scientifically justified, product appropriate, and aligned with approved specifications, regulatory commitments, compendial requirements, and customer agreements.
•    Lead and provide technical direction for protocol execution, ensuring predefined requirements are followed, deviations are documented and assessed, data are reviewed contemporaneously, and conclusions are supported by objective evidence.
•    Own technical assessment of new product methods, specifications, compendial requirements, sample plans, reference standards, columns, reagents, consumables, equipment, software, data systems, and analyst qualification needs before laboratory implementation.
•    Prepare and deliver clear customer-facing presentations, data reviews, meeting updates, and written responses; document decisions, action items, technical risks, and follow-up commitments through established project and quality systems.
•    Lead or support investigations involving deviations, problem reports, out-of-specification (OOS), and out-of-trend (OOT) results utilizing root cause analysis and risk assessment tools to identify corrective and preventive actions.
•    Perform detailed data reviews and provide guidance and coaching on good documentation practices, error corrections, and compliance expectations.
•    Provide technical training, mentorship, and cross-training to laboratory personnel on analytical methods, instrumentation, SOPs, and regulatory requirements while maintaining accurate training records.  This includes other analysts, as well as other NPI chemists.
•    Serve as an NPI customer-facing analytical technical representative and collaborate with Quality, Manufacturing, Validation, Engineering, Project Management, external laboratories, and customers regarding project scope, analytical strategy, testing schedules, technical updates, investigations, risks, and deliverables.
•    Plan and coordinate analytical activities performed internally and by external laboratories, including method readiness, sample and reference-standard requirements, technical transfers, data review, issue escalation, and delivery of customer and project commitments.
•    Enter, review, track, and trend analytical data within applicable laboratory data management systems to support operational monitoring and continuous improvement initiatives.
•    Lead analytical workstreams for NPI and cross-functional projects, including laboratory readiness assessments, resource and equipment planning, method gap assessments, protocol execution, risk management, customer-facing technical meetings, continuous improvement, and audit support.
•    Be the point of contact for the chemistry labs with customers/clients on NPI teams.  This will including technical discussions on protocols, and issues pertaining to testing and product performance.
•    Maintain a thorough understanding of pharmaceutical regulatory and compliance requirements and support inspection readiness through adherence to GMP, GLP, safety, and aseptic gowning requirements.
•    Adhere to all company, safety, quality, and regulatory policies while promoting a compliant, safe, and quality-focused laboratory environment.
•    Read/interpret SOPs to ensure compliance
•    Maintain up to date trainings
•    Other duties as assigned

Education and/or Experience:
•    Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related scientific field
•    Minimum of five (5) years experience with in chemistry and NPI’s or related role
•    Minimum of five (5) years experience of aseptic/sterile experience in a pharmaceutical or related industry, preferred

Supervisory Responsibilities:
This role does not have supervisory responsibilities, yet it may involve mentoring, guiding, and advising.

Other Skills and Abilities:
•    Provides guidance and mentorship to team members
•    Fosters a collaborative and positive work environment
•    Champions change
•    Promotes a safe and healthy work environment by actively identifying and addressing potential hazards, following established safety protocols, participating in safety training programs, and fostering a culture of awareness and responsibility among team members.
•    Demonstrates strong attention to detail
•    Proficient in the use of operational theories of all common laboratory equipment.
•    Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
•    Ability to perform independent work related to projects and/or routine activities.
•    Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure with limited supervision.
•    Ability to work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
•    Be accessible to laboratory and plant area(s) and office staff
•    Able to use required office equipment.

Other Qualifications:
Must pass a background check
Must pass a drug screen
May be required to pass Occupational Health Screening                                                        
May be required to obtain and maintain gowning certification
May be required to obtain and maintain media qualification
May be required to wear a respirator

Education, experience, location and tenure may be considered along with internal equity when job offers are extended.

We do not accept unsolicited assistance from any headhunters or recruitment firms for any of our job openings. All resumes or profiles submitted by search firms to any employee at Curia, in any form without a valid, signed search agreement by an authorized signatory in place for the specific position, approved by Talent Acquisition, will be deemed the sole property of Curia. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Curia because of the unsolicited referral.

All interested applicants must apply online. Please be aware of scammers. Curia will only send offer letters and requests for sensitive personal information from a curiaglobal.com email address. Curia is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. Curia is an E-Verify employer.