Post-doctoral Scientist Vaccine Immunogenicity (Ebola Outbreak Response)

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Your responsibilities:

• Coordinate laboratory activities supporting the Phase II/III vaccine clinical trial conducted in the BDBV outbreak.
• Establish and optimize sample collection, processing, storage, and shipment procedures in the DRC, ensuring compliance with applicable biosafety and quality standards.
• Co-design and implement immunogenicity testing strategies aligned with study objectives and regulatory expectations, including but not limited to ELISA, Luminex, virus neutralization assays, ELISpot, IGRA and flow cytometry-based platforms.
• Contribute to assay harmonization initiatives and collaborate closely with international partners, including CEPI Centralised Laboratory Network (CLN), vaccine developers, research consortia and public health stakeholders.
• Assist in technology transfer and capacity-strengthening activities within partner laboratories in DRC and internationally.
• Ensure laboratory activities remain audit-ready and compliant with quality assurance systems and Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) requirements.
• Identify opportunities for operational/scientific improvement and contribute to innovation in laboratory and clinical immunology workflows.
• Contribute to competitive grant applications and fundraising initiatives to support the unit's strategic growth.
• Support the development of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) portfolio within the Clinical Immunology Unit.
• Represent the unit in scientific, technical and policy-oriented working groups, advisory committees and international meetings.
• Present scientific findings at conferences and contribute to peer-reviewed publications.
• Mentor students, laboratory staff and junior scientists, and contribute to training and capacity-building initiatives.
• Report directly to the Head of the Clinical Immunology Unit, Prof. Wim Adriaensen.

Your profile:

• PhD in (Bio)medical Sciences, Immunology, Microbiology, Virology, Vaccinology, Infectious Diseases or a related life sciences discipline.
• Demonstrated expertise in vaccine immunology and immunogenicity assessments (e.g., ELISA, Luminex, VNT, ELISpot, IGRA, flow cytometry).
• Sound understanding of biosafety requirements and quality management systems.
• Minimum four years of post-graduate laboratory experience with a proven technical and scientific track record.
• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving capacity and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with scientific, operational and policy audiences.
• Strong commitment to laboratory excellence, continuous improvement and scientific rigor.
• Fluency in English is essential. Professional proficiency in French is required to support activities and deployments in the DRC.
• Willingness and ability to regularly travel internationally, including to tropical and outbreak-affected regions
• You support the mission and values of the ITM.
  

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