Placement Student – Host Strain Development

CPI helps make great ideas and inventions a reality. We’re a team of intelligent people using advances in science and technology to solve the biggest global challenges in healthcare and sustainability.

Through our incredible people and innovation infrastructure, we collaborate with our partners in industry, academia, government, and the investment community to accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative products.

From health technologies and pharmaceuticals to sustainable food and materials innovations, we turn the entrepreneurial spirit and radical thinking of our people and partners into incredible impact that makes our world a better place.

CPI are looking to appoint a Placement Student within our Biotechnology team to play a key part in delivering innovative projects that make a real impact. As a Placement Student, you’ll gain hands-on experience in advanced bioprocessing and work alongside experts in a collaborative, cutting-edge environment. You’ll support the development of scalable fermentation and downstream processing technologies, contributing to solutions that shape a sustainable future.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain compliance with Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE), GMP, Data Integrity, and quality standards.
• Set up, plan, and execute scientific experiments, reporting results to agreed timescales.
• Provide clear documentation of technical data, methodologies, and calculations.
• Support Biotechnology projects with microbiology, fermentation, and downstream processing knowledge.
• Assist in developing scalable fermentation processes from shake flask to 10,000-litre reactor scale.
• Support process development and scale-up of bio-product recovery and purification operations.
• Operate and monitor microbial fermentation processes under batch, fed-batch, and continuous conditions.
• Perform routine maintenance of fermenters and escalate issues impacting performance.

The Person
Essential:

• Studying towards a degree in Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Working knowledge of IT packages (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of microbial cultivation and basic fermentation principles.
• Good analytical and numerical skills.
• Willingness to perform repetitive tasks.

Desirable:

• Experience with aseptic techniques, bioreactor operation, and lab equipment maintenance.
• Proven ability to maintain accurate records and write up research findings.

At CPI, we offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, this includes:

• Up to 36 days holiday, including bank holidays – Plus a holiday purchasing scheme
• Generous pension scheme
• Life assurance and accident insurance schemes
• Flexible working
• Learning and Development Opportunities
• Free parking

Find out more about our culture and benefits.

*Please note that to apply for this role, you must submit both a covering letter and CV.

CPI is an organisation based in the UK. Commencement of employment is conditional to demonstrating right to work in the UK, sponsorship may be available.