Also called: Bioprocess Technician, Cell Culture Technician
Operates bioreactors and purification equipment that grow and harvest medicines from living cells.
You gown up and step into a cleanroom where steel bioreactors hum. You take samples, count cells under a microscope, add nutrients on schedule and record everything in an electronic batch record. One batch can be worth millions, so you follow every step exactly.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate degree or certificate in biotechnology or biomanufacturing.
Ways in: 2-year college, Certification, 4-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Biotechnology (2-year), Biomanufacturing (certificate), Biology.
Growing faster than average. New US biomanufacturing plants.
Low risk for 10 years. Biomanufacturing is growing and heavily hands-on in clean rooms; automation helps but trained techs stay needed.
Classes: Biology, Chemistry, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.