Microbiologist at Johnson & Johnson in 2026 presents an opportunity for experienced microbiology and biopharmaceutical manufacturing professionals to join Johnson & Johnson as a Plant Microbiologist in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands.
The position sits within Johnson & Johnson’s Supply Chain Manufacturing organisation and the Manufacturing Pharmaceutical Process Operations function. The company is seeking a professional who can provide microbiological expertise across contamination control, environmental monitoring, investigations, aseptic practices, and pharmaceutical manufacturing operations.
The vacancy was posted on September 2, 2026, carries requisition number R-096833, and is a fully onsite position in Leiden.
Background & Job Description
The Plant Microbiologist will report to the Senior Manager, Centre of Excellence (CoE) Upstream Processing and work closely with Operations, the Centre of Expertise, and Quality teams.
The role focuses strongly on maintaining and improving microbiological control within a regulated manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will help assess contamination risks, investigate microbiological events, strengthen environmental monitoring programmes and ensure that appropriate controls are implemented across manufacturing operations.
This is therefore a professional-level opportunity aimed at candidates with substantial experience in GMP-regulated manufacturing rather than an entry-level microbiology position.
Key Responsibilities and Tasks
The Plant Microbiologist will have responsibility across several major areas.
Contamination Control
The successful candidate will support the Contamination Control Program (CCP) for Operations. This includes assessing the effectiveness of procedures, identifying opportunities for improvement, and helping ensure that manufacturing operations remain ready for regulatory inspections.
Contamination Investigations
A major component of the position involves leading or supporting investigations into contamination events.
Responsibilities include:
- Performing detailed analysis of contamination events.
- Reviewing protocols and microbiological data.
- Assessing samples and interpreting results.
- Supporting remediation of inspection observations.
- Performing contamination-impact assessments for change controls.
- Identifying root causes.
- Defining and following up on CAPA activities.
- Validating investigation conclusions.
- Ensuring effectiveness checks are completed to prevent recurrence.
These activities require strong scientific reasoning and the ability to investigate manufacturing issues systematically.
Environmental Monitoring and Microbiological Controls
The role also involves translating microbiological risks into practical controls within manufacturing operations.
The Plant Microbiologist will support microbiological risk assessments covering facilities and processes and contribute to environmental monitoring and microbiological control strategies.
Relevant activities include:
- Environmental Monitoring Program Qualification (EMPQ).
- Reviewing alert and action limits.
- Investigating environmental-monitoring deviations.
- Assessing cleaning, disinfection and sanitisation strategies.
- Supporting sterilisation validation.
- Monitoring filtration validation and routine execution.
This makes environmental monitoring and contamination-control experience particularly important for applicants.
Data Analysis and Continuous Improvement
Another important part of the position is the analysis and trending of microbiological and manufacturing data.
The successful candidate will report and trend contamination and leakage rates and other performance indicators, communicate insights to stakeholders, and identify opportunities to reduce risk.
The role also involves challenging existing practices and supporting sustainable improvements to microbiological controls.
Training and Subject Matter Expertise
The Plant Microbiologist will also contribute to building a strong culture around aseptic practices.
Responsibilities include executing training related to microbiological hygiene and contamination prevention.
The position further serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for contamination control, providing microbiological advice on facility and process design and sharing expertise with other Johnson & Johnson sites and global stakeholders.
Qualifications
Education and Certification
Johnson & Johnson requires a BSc in Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biology, Chemical Engineering or a similar discipline, or equivalent experience.
An MSc is preferred, although the vacancy does not state that a master’s degree is mandatory.
Candidates should ensure that their CV clearly identifies their degree, relevant scientific training, and experience in regulated manufacturing environments.
Professional Experience
The vacancy requires several years of experience in GMP-regulated manufacturing.
Experience in the following areas is particularly relevant:
- Biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
- Sterile or aseptic manufacturing.
- Microbiology.
- Manufacturing Science & Technology.
- Quality Assurance.
- Operations support.
- Contamination control.
- Environmental monitoring.
Applicants should also be able to demonstrate practical experience with environmental-monitoring programme design or optimisation, qualification, sampling strategies and data trending.
Technical Knowledge and Skills
Candidates should have working knowledge of relevant GMP expectations and guidance, including EU GMP/EudraLex Annex 1 and FDA aseptic-processing guidance.
Johnson & Johnson is also seeking applicants who can translate regulatory and scientific requirements into practical controls on the manufacturing floor.
Other important capabilities include:
- Root-cause analysis.
- CAPA definition and follow-up.
- Deviation investigation.
- Handling inspection observations.
- Interpretation of microbiological and process data.
- Development of meaningful metrics and KPIs.
- Stakeholder communication.
- Strong written and verbal English communication.
Dutch is listed as a preferred language.
Salary and Benefits
The official vacancy lists an anticipated pay range of €68,600 to €119,600 for the primary posting location. It also provides an anticipated Netherlands base-pay range of €82,900 to €166,000 for additional-location reporting purposes.
Johnson & Johnson notes that actual compensation and benefits may vary according to location and applicable employment terms.
Benefits described in the vacancy include an annual bonus opportunity, vacation days, parental leave, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave and wellbeing-related programmes.
Employees may also have access to financial, physical and mental-health programmes, recognition awards and applicable insurance plans.
Location and Work Arrangement
Job Title: Plant Microbiologist
Company: Johnson & Johnson
Function: Supply Chain Manufacturing
Sub-function: Manufacturing Pharmaceutical Process Operations
Location: Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
Work Pattern: Fully onsite
Requisition Number: R-096833
Date Posted: September 2, 2026
How to Apply
Interested candidates should apply through the official Johnson & Johnson Careers portal.
Apply for the Plant Microbiologist position at Johnson & Johnson
Applicants should ensure that their CV highlights their microbiology qualification, GMP manufacturing experience, contamination-control expertise, environmental-monitoring experience, and investigation/CAPA capabilities.
Because the role is specialised, candidates should tailor their applications to the requirements rather than submitting a generic microbiology CV.
Final Thoughts
The Microbiologist at Johnson & Johnson in 2026 opportunity is particularly relevant to experienced microbiologists and related life-science professionals with backgrounds in regulated pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
The position combines scientific microbiology with contamination control, environmental monitoring, GMP compliance, investigations, data analysis, training, and continuous improvement. It also provides an opportunity to work as a microbiological subject matter expert within Johnson & Johnson’s manufacturing organisation.
Professionals who meet the educational and experience requirements should review the official vacancy carefully and submit their application through Johnson & Johnson’s careers platform while the position remains available.
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