Emergent Biosolutions Seeks New Talent to Support Global COVID-19 Vaccination Push, Expanding Project Portfolio

SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are accelerating across the U.S. with approximately 66 million first doses having been administered as of February 25th, representing 13.6% of the country, according to NPR. The vaccination effort received another boost with the Food and Drug Administration’s recent Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose vaccine. 

Maryland’s leading vaccine manufacturer, Emergent Biosolutions (Emergent), is a critical cog in the vaccine manufacturing and distribution engine as it has multiple COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing partnerships, including partnerships with J&J and AstraZeneca, among others. Emergent also partners with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which provided approximately $628.3M in funding to the company as part of Operation Warp Speed.

Emergent is actively hiring to support this massive and urgent effort to solve the globe’s most pressing problem. The company recently hosted a Virtual Recruiting Event (VRE) to hire new talent for a host of manufacturing and quality control positions, including but not limited to:

*Learn more at the Emergent Quality Career Page. New Hire Equity Awards, Relocation Support, and other Incentives are available. 

Key Emergent team members participated in the virtual event, sharing their experiences, discussing the company’s mission, and describing what it’s like to work at Emergent and to play such an important role in the global pandemic fight. Team members in attendance included: James Glover, VP Manufacturing Operations; Elizabeth Miclette, Head of Human Resources; Mike Maurer, Senior Director, Manufacturing Bayview; Marcia Baroni, Senior Director, Quality; Dana Johnston, Senior Director, Global Quality Engineering; Thomas Voigt, Director, Lab Services; and Jennifer Veenhof, QC Microbiologist.

The Emergent team is playing an invaluable part in rapidly getting vaccines out the door, not only in the U.S. but on a global scale. And Emergent’s people are rallying to the cause. 

“If you’re looking for a challenge, you’re talking to the right folks,” stated Mike Maurer, Senior Director of Manufacturing at Emergent’s Bayview facility in Baltimore, Maryland, which is designated as a Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM) by BARDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“We are doing a ton of great work at Bayview. We’re super busy but it’s rewarding…When I go home to my family and kids and talk to them about what we’re doing, that we’re absolutely saving people’s lives, making millions and millions of vaccine doses….This is why we come to work and why we’re doing what we’re doing. I’m excited to be here everyday,” stated Maurer. 

“We’re looking for people that are excited to be here, that are quick learners, and that have leadership characteristics. This is a super,  highly-regulated environment we work in so we need to be on our toes around good manufacturing practices…I need people that can come in here and help with that,” he added. 

Emergent is growing rapidly and is actively hiring to support the vaccine manufacturing effort, the advancement of its own pipeline, and other COVID-19-related partnerships, including a new collaboration with Humanigen to accelerate the manufacturing of lenzilumab™, an anti-human granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) monoclonal antibody designed to prevent and treat an immune hyper-response called “cytokine storm.”  

As Emergent grows, the strength and quality of its people—and the workplace culture they’ve built and protected—is made stronger by new team members added into the mix. New staff are welcomed with open arms, well-trained, and seamlessly integrated into Emergent’s culture, mission, and core value ecosystem.

One of Emergent’s newer team members, QC Microbiologist Jennifer Veenhof, shared her experience joining the Emergent team: “I attended a virtual recruiting event just like this one back in August,” she stated. “I was really struck by how passionate all the panelists were about their jobs…I came in without any Pharma experience…This has been a big change and the training is intense but the team works with you. The environment is very supportive; everyone is there to help you if you need anything.”

“There are all these resources for you here as an employee. I feel incredibly lucky because this is an historic time. No matter how long or hard my day has been, I feel so thankful that I did a small part to help someone. I’m tired but I’m proud,” she added.

Integrating new team members, maintaining focus on the mission, and being supportive of one another has helped the Emergent team manage long days and the urgency of the moment while still performing at the highest levels.

“The really important part is how we do it. We couldn’t do what we do without the people at Emergent. We really do look for technical expertise but just as important is finding people that have the right culture. We value and foster innovation and accountability but the backbone of everything we do is collaboration,” shared Marcia Baroni, Senior Director, Quality. 

“My primary focus is in Lansing, Michigan, but I’ve helped out at the Canton site in Massachusetts and the Bayview site in Maryland. Everytime has been a great experience; people are open and welcoming. The environment is extremely fast-paced but it is very collaborative. We go where the need is…we rally to the cause of protecting and enhancing lives,” she added.  

Elizabeth Miclette, Head of Human Resources, noted that the company’s mission of protecting and enhancing lives is not just about the public at large—this mantra applies to Emergent employees as well. 

“The company’s mission long before COVID hit was to protect and enhance life. This is something we all take very seriously…As soon as the pandemic was seen, our leaders acted quickly. We have amazing policies to protect us. Protect and enhance life isn’t just a hashtag. I’m very proud of what Emergent has done; it’s been a great response,” she added.

In a recent story by BioBuzz writer Alex Keown, Sean Kirk, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Technical Operations at Emergent, stated, “We have an opportunity to help save a lot of lives going forward,” Kirk said. “The power of what we’re doing as a group of individuals is not lost on me.”

If you’re looking for an opportunity to do the most good in a supportive, collaborative environment while advancing your life science career, there is no better place to join than Emergent, which sits at the heart of the historic, life-saving push to vaccinate the globe against the greatest global public health threat in over one hundred years.

Learn more at the Emergent Quality Career Page.