What people actually do here, and how you get hired to do it
Eight career areas, one job architecture of 14 grades, and a hiring process that takes a median of 24 days from application to offer. Below: what each area works on, the roles we hire most often, what we look for, and exactly what happens after you press apply.
Research & Discovery
From target biology to a development candidate. Our discovery organisation runs 18 pre-clinical programs across four therapeutic areas.
Teams are organised around biology, not function: a program team holds its chemists, biologists, structural people and DMPK scientists together from target validation through candidate selection. Our San Diego genomics site runs the functional genomics screens that feed target selection; Boulder handles protein engineering and process development handover.
Roles we hire most
Research Associate I–III · Scientist · Senior Scientist · Principal Scientist · Medicinal Chemist · Protein Engineer · In Vivo Pharmacologist · Structural Biologist · DMPK Scientist · Bioanalytical Scientist · Lab Operations Specialist · Study Director · Paleogenomics Scientist
Our smallest team and our most-asked-about. They reconstruct ancestral enzymes from degraded and inferred sequence, because proteins that evolved in hotter, harsher conditions tend to be more thermostable — and a thermostable enzyme is worth a great deal in a purification suite. One of theirs now runs in production at Devens.
They hire roughly one person a year, usually with a computational or structural background and a tolerance for being asked the dinosaur question in every single meeting. They do not clone anything. The bioethics board reviews every proposal they write.
What we look for
- Evidence you can design an experiment that could prove you wrong
- Hands-on depth in at least one technique platform, and curiosity about the next one
- Willingness to present unfinished data at Thursday program review
Scientist and above: recruiter screen, hiring manager call, a 45-minute seminar on your own work to the department, then a half-day panel of four one-to-ones.
Research Associate: recruiter screen, manager call, and a two-hour panel including a bench walkthrough. No seminar.
Typical entry points: BSc or MSc into RA roles; PhD or PhD plus post-doc into Scientist; our post-doctoral fellowship takes eight fellows a year with a route to Scientist.
Clinical Development
Six Phase 3 programs, 41 active studies, roughly 11,000 patients enrolled across 180 investigator sites.
Clinical operations, biostatistics and programming, data management, medical writing, pharmacovigilance and clinical supply. We run a hybrid model — core study leadership in house, monitoring through a small set of long-term CRO partners — which means our clinical people manage relationships as much as timelines.
Roles we hire most
Clinical Trial Associate · Clinical Research Associate · Clinical Trial Manager · Study Lead · Biostatistician · Statistical Programmer · Clinical Data Manager · Medical Writer · Drug Safety Associate · Pharmacovigilance Scientist · Clinical Supply Planner
What we look for
- Comfort holding a protocol, a site relationship and a timeline in your head at once
- The instinct to escalate early — we have never punished anyone for raising a risk
- For CTA and CRA roles: no clinical research background required if you have run complex, documented operations elsewhere. This is our most common landing spot for former medics and corpsmen. See the translation table.
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, then a panel of three: a peer, a cross-functional partner (usually data management or regulatory) and the second-level manager. Study Lead and above add a 30-minute case discussion about a struggling trial.
Location: roughly 40% of clinical roles are fully remote in the US, and every posting says so on the first line.
Regulatory Affairs & Medical Affairs
The people who get a medicine approved, and then make sure it is understood properly once it is.
Global regulatory strategy, CMC regulatory, labelling and advertising review, plus a medical affairs organisation of field medical scientists, medical information, publications and health economics. Our field medical team covers 22 US territories and 9 in Europe.
Roles we hire most
Regulatory Affairs Associate · Regulatory Affairs Manager · CMC Regulatory Lead · Labelling Specialist · Medical Science Liaison · Medical Information Specialist · Publications Manager · HEOR Analyst · Regulatory Operations Specialist
What we look for
- Precision without pedantry — knowing which details actually change an outcome
- For MSL roles: an advanced clinical or scientific degree, and the ability to be genuinely useful to a physician in fifteen minutes
- For regulatory operations: document management discipline that would survive an inspection
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, panel of three to four. MSL candidates present a 15-minute scientific exchange on a published paper we send in advance, to a panel including a medical director.
Travel: field medical roles are 50–70% travel within territory. Regulatory roles are largely hybrid with occasional agency meetings.
Manufacturing, Engineering & Supply Chain
Our largest organisation, and the one most people underestimate. If you want a career in biologics manufacturing rather than a job in it, the ladder here runs to VP.
Drug substance at Devens: cell culture from vial thaw through 2,000L single-use bioreactors, purification, buffer and media. Drug product and sterile fill-finish at Bloomington. Process development and tech transfer at Boulder. Planning, cold chain and distribution run out of Devens and Bloomington. All of it 24/7 on 12-hour rotating shifts.
Roles we hire most
Manufacturing Technician I–III · Manufacturing Associate · Shift Supervisor · Process Engineer · Automation Engineer · Validation Engineer · Maintenance & Calibration Technician · Facilities Technician · Utilities Operator · Materials Handler · Warehouse Lead · Supply Planner · Cold Chain Coordinator · MSAT Scientist
What we look for
- Procedural discipline — doing it the documented way when nobody is watching
- Mechanical or process aptitude; we teach the biology, we cannot teach the temperament
- No degree required for technician, handler, maintenance and utilities roles. Military technical training, trade apprenticeships and adjacent industries (food and beverage, semiconductor, aerospace, nuclear, water treatment) all transfer well
Technician and operator roles: we run onsite hiring events at Devens and Bloomington roughly every six weeks. You interview, tour the plant, meet a shift crew, and we aim to make offers within 48 hours. No take-home tests, no coding puzzles.
Engineering and management roles: recruiter screen, manager call, then a panel of four including a technical deep-dive and a gowning-area walkthrough where practical.
Shift pattern: 12-hour rotations, typically 3-on / 4-off alternating with 4-on / 3-off, days and nights. Differentials of 12–20% explained here.
Quality
Quality is not a department that says no. It is the reason a patient can trust a vial they never see made.
QC analytical chemistry, QC microbiology and environmental monitoring, QA on-the-floor, validation and qualification, deviation and CAPA investigation, supplier quality, and the regulatory inspection readiness team. We have hosted 14 regulatory inspections in five years.
Roles we hire most
QC Analyst I–III · QC Microbiologist · Environmental Monitoring Technician · QA Associate · QA Specialist (on-the-floor) · Batch Record Reviewer · Deviation Investigator · CAPA Coordinator · Validation Specialist · Supplier Quality Auditor · Quality Systems Analyst
What we look for
- An investigator's instinct: you want the actual root cause, not the closable one
- Clear written English — a deviation report is read by regulators years later
- The nerve to stop a batch, and the judgement to know when to
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, panel of three. Investigator and QA specialist candidates get a 30-minute exercise: we hand you a redacted deviation and ask what you would ask next. There is no single right answer and we are listening to the questions.
Entry points: QC Analyst I takes a science associate degree or a military laboratory background. Our Bio-Ops Apprenticeship is the no-degree route into QC and takes 24 apprentices a year.
Commercial
Three approved medicines, a national field force, and a patient services organisation that handles roughly 40,000 support cases a year.
Field sales and account management, market access and pricing, brand marketing, patient services and hub operations, commercial analytics, and the launch teams preparing for our next two approvals. Rare disease commercial works very differently from oncology here — smaller territories, deeper relationships, more time with patient organisations.
Roles we hire most
Therapeutic Area Specialist · Key Account Manager · Rare Disease Account Lead · Market Access Director · Payer Account Manager · Brand Manager · Patient Services Coordinator · Case Manager · Commercial Analytics Analyst · Sales Operations Manager · Launch Excellence Lead
What we look for
- Scientific fluency — our customers are specialists and they can tell
- Territory ownership: planning, prioritising and reporting without being chased
- Prior pharma sales experience is common but not required; medical device, diagnostics and clinical backgrounds all convert well
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, then a field ride-along or a territory business plan presentation to a panel of three. We send the brief a week ahead and we do not expect a polished deck.
Compensation: field commercial roles run on a base plus incentive plan, typically 70/30 for specialists and 80/20 for account leads, with a company car or allowance.
Data Science, Digital & IT
Computational biology at one end, GxP systems validation at the other, and a manufacturing IT/OT team keeping two plants running in between.
Machine learning for target identification and molecule design, clinical data engineering, real-world evidence, commercial analytics, enterprise applications, cybersecurity, and the automation and historian systems on the plant floor. Our data platform team runs everything on a single validated cloud environment, which is a much harder engineering problem than it sounds.
Roles we hire most
Computational Biologist · Machine Learning Scientist · Bioinformatics Engineer · Data Engineer · Clinical Data Programmer · Analytics Engineer · GxP Systems Analyst · Computer Systems Validation Specialist · Security Operations Analyst · Manufacturing IT/OT Engineer · Product Owner
What we look for
- People who read the assay before they model the data
- Comfort in a validated environment: change control is not bureaucracy here, it is the law
- For IT and security roles, military communications and cyber backgrounds are a strong fit
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, then a technical session. For scientific roles that is a discussion of an analysis you have run. For engineering roles it is a 60-minute pairing session on a realistic problem, using your own editor. We do not do algorithm trivia and we do not set unpaid take-home projects longer than 90 minutes.
Corporate & Business Functions
Finance, legal, people, communications, procurement, business development, facilities and EHS.
Small teams with wide remits. Our FP&A team is 14 people supporting a company of 5,400, which means analysts sit in program reviews rather than in spreadsheets. Our EHS organisation covers two 24/7 plants and a research campus, and is one of the strongest landing spots for people from military CBRN and bioenvironmental backgrounds.
Roles we hire most
Financial Analyst · FP&A Manager · Cost Accountant · Corporate Counsel · Compliance Manager · HR Business Partner · Talent Acquisition Partner · Total Rewards Analyst · Internal Communications Manager · Procurement Category Manager · EHS Specialist · Industrial Hygienist · Facilities Manager
Recruiter screen, hiring manager call, panel of three, and for grade 10 and above a final conversation with a function head. Finance candidates get a short modelling exercise; legal candidates get a scenario discussion rather than a written task.
What happens after you press apply
Median time from application to offer is 24 days. Our commitment: you hear from a human at every stage, including a no.
-
About 12 minutes
Apply
One form. We ask for a CV or resume and three short questions. No account creation, no retyping your CV into 40 boxes, no cover letter required anywhere in the company. Voluntary self-identification — including veteran status, which activates our Veterans Interview Commitment — is collected separately from your application and is never visible to the hiring manager.
-
Within 5 business days
Recruiter screen — 30 minutes
A real conversation about the role, the team, the shift pattern or travel, and money. We tell you the pay range in this call whether or not you ask. You will also be told who else you would meet and roughly when.
-
Within 5 business days of the screen
Hiring manager conversation — 45 minutes
The person you would actually work for. What the job is on a Tuesday, what the first 90 days look like, what they are struggling with. Ask them hard questions; we brief them to expect it.
-
Usually one session, 2–4 hours
Team panel
Three to five interviews, in person or virtual, your choice wherever the role allows. You get the names, roles and interview focus of every panellist at least 48 hours in advance, plus any presentation brief or exercise. Onsite panels include a site tour and unaccompanied time with a potential peer — ask them anything, no manager present.
-
Grade 10 and above only
Final conversation
A 45-minute discussion with a function head or site leader about direction rather than competence.
-
Within 3 business days of the last interview
Decision and offer
A verbal offer with the full package, then written terms plus the benefits guide and plan documents. We give you a minimum of 48 hours and will extend that on request. If you are not moving forward you get a call, not an automated email, and specific feedback if you want it.
- No unpaid take-home projects longer than 90 minutes, ever
- No brain teasers, no algorithm trivia, no "sell me this pen"
- No asking for your current or previous salary, in any market
- No exploding offers, and no pressure to decide over a weekend
- No ghosting. If we go quiet for more than ten business days, chase us and we will treat it as our failure
Preparing
- Read the job posting's "What success looks like at 12 months" section — every posting has one, and panels are built around it
- Bring one example you are genuinely proud of and one that went badly
- Ask about the shift pattern, travel or on-call load early; it is the most common reason offers fall down late
Onboarding
Two-day induction, a named buddy, a 30/60/90 plan agreed in week one, and a formal check-in with your skip-level manager at day 45. Manufacturing hires complete GMP and gowning qualification before independent work, typically three to six weeks.
Accommodations, for applying and for working
Ask at any point, including before you apply, by emailing accommodations@ingenbiotech.example. That inbox is handled by a specialist team. Your request is not shared with the hiring manager or the interview panel, and it is not recorded against your application.
Things we arrange routinely, without asking you to justify them:
- Interview questions sent in writing in advance
- Additional time, scheduled breaks, or splitting a panel across two days
- A quiet room, reduced lighting, or a virtual panel instead of an onsite one
- Live captioning, sign language interpretation, or a screen-reader-compatible exercise format
- A support person, job coach or interpreter present
- Assistive technology, adjusted workstations and modified schedules once you start
Median time from request to arrangement in place last year: 9 days.
Our postings are written to be readable
Every job description lists requirements in two blocks: what is genuinely required, and what we would like. Research consistently shows that long "preferred" lists deter strong candidates, particularly women and career changers, so ours are capped at four items.
If you meet the required block, apply. We would rather read an application from someone who is 70% there and hungry than not see it at all.
Physical requirements are stated
Manufacturing and laboratory postings state lifting, standing, gowning and respirator requirements plainly, so nobody discovers them at offer stage.
Ready when you are
Every posting states its grade, its pay range, its location model and what success looks like after twelve months.