Development Scientist within Virus safety, 12 months maternity cover

Step into a role where your expertise in virus safety directly protects patients worldwide. As our Development Scientist specializing in virus and TSE agent safety, you'll join our engaged team at Novo Nordisk as a Virus Safety Scientist in API MSAT Process Support. Embrace exciting challenges and contribute to the virus and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) safety of pharmaceutical products.

Your new role

As a Virus Safety Scientist in the department of API MSAT Manufacturing Support, you’ll play a critical role in ensuring the safety and quality of our API production and development projects. This is a role where your scientific expertise translates directly into patient safety across our global operations.

This includes scientific support to testing cell banks and in-process samples, evaluating virus clearance, and evaluation of raw materials. You will also ensure compliance with current regulatory guidelines and prepare necessary documentation for global authorities. Additionally, you’ll support production departments by identifying and addressing virus safety impacts due to changes in cultivation or purification processes.

Your primary responsibilities include:

• Acting as the virus and TSE agent safety expert, providing scientific support to production and development/optimization projects across Product Supply

• Support implementing of virus safety measures in mammalian cell-derived protein manufacturing.
• Troubleshooting virus safety issues within manufacturing departments.
• Writing and reviewing registration documentation for new biological products, as well as documentations that are requested by/for global health authorities.
• Supporting and following up after health authority inspections.
• Designing and supervising virus clearance studies.
• Evaluating virus and TSE safety aspects of raw materials, Drug Substance, and Drug Product.

Your skills & qualifications

We're looking for a scientist who combines deep technical expertise with strong collaborative skills and a passion for patient safety. You'll bring:

• MSc in natural sciences or similar educational background with relevant industrial experience, or PhD/Post-Doc
• Deep knowledge and experience in virus safety and/or TSE agent safety within the pharmaceutical industry, including biochemical characteristics of viruses, virus inactivation/clearance, persistence, infectivity, and safety
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical production, especially downstream purification processes such as chromatography and nanofiltration, is highly advantageous.
• Understanding of GMP in the pharmaceutical industry and knowledge about regulatory guidelines
• Experience working with a broad stakeholder landscape and optimizing processes within your area
• Fluency in English (read, write and speak) with excellent communication skills at all organizational levels
• The ability to work highly independently with complex challenges while maintaining accountability and a positive attitude
• Flexibility and change readiness in a dynamic work environment, with an innovative and international mindset
• A collaborative spirit with respect for different personalities and a commitment to fostering a psychologically safe environment

About the Department

The job is within the API MSAT Process Support department, primarily located in Bagsværd. Our primary responsibility is to support drug substance manufacturing processes in yeast, bacterial, and mammalian systems from market authorization throughout the product lifecycle. To fulfil our responsibilities, we collaborate closely with the cultivation, purification, research, manufacturing, quality assurance, and regulatory teams.

You will be part of a team of 15 scientists and specialists, focusing on different aspects of manufacturing support, including virus safety. Effective virus safety relies on collaboration across various departments, including development, cultivation, purification, analytical, and Quality Assurance. Therefore, strong communication and collaboration skills are essential for success in this role.

Working at Novo Nordisk

Every day we seek the solutions that defeat serious chronic diseases. To do this, we approach our work with determination, constant curiosity and a commitment to finding better ways forward. For over 100 years, this dedication has driven us to build a company focused on lasting change for long-term health. One where diverse thinking, shared purpose and mutual respect come together to create extraordinary results. When you join us, you're not just starting a job – you're becoming part of a story that spans generations.

What we offer

There is, of course, more on offer here than the uniqueness of our culture and the extraordinary results we produce. Being part of a global healthcare company means opportunities to learn and develop are all around us, while our benefits are designed with your career and life stage in mind.

Contact 

For further information, please contact Birgitte Falktoft, Senior Manager, API MSAT Manufacturing Support, on +45 3444 6904.

Deadline

9 April 2026. We look forward to receiving you application. You do not need to attach a cover letter to your application, but please include a few sentences about why you are applying in your resume or CV. To ensure an efficient and fair recruitment process, please refrain from adding a photo in your CV.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.