scientist

senior research associate

manufacturing associate

senior scientist

research associate

KBI Biopharma

What is the best part of working at the company?
There are few positive things I can say. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Tight timelines, compounded by inefficient organization and overall structure. Each group operates independently without cohesion. Meeting are inefficient and sometimes poorly attended. Most are perfunctory with little information shared. Information doesn’t flow freely, so only some people are empowered. Questions are frowned upon, as is continuous improvement. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Culture is non existent. They laid people off 2 days before a holiday week began and two days before they would have to pay out the paltry annual bonus. 
There are no stock options, no catered meals, no snacks, no corporate happy hours.  They have not adopted the Colorado biotech culture.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Fighting with outdated software, wading through poor organization, struggling to find information….hoping a coworker that has insider info is in the office.  When all that fails, defaulting to finishing the 1000th pointless training module.

Potential as a whole but will fail due to lack of culture & lack of accountability. People need to be taught the basics. Many are simpletons. The company has too many tiers in some locations / departments where there is lack of knowledge, as well as direction / training. Some Sups & Mgrs are not invested in their positions and titles, but will accept a paycheck anyway. Some subordinates will enjoy overtime pay while stealing time by creating issues that do not exist in order to make bank. Company needs 1 invested Manager who acts to create a morale by hiring individuals who are positive & knowledgeable in lieu of negative & manipulative. Company needs 1 knowledgeable Senior Tech that can assist in training the sub techs & wants for their advancement, one who is not easily threatened. Company needs to let people go who are bad eggs, women included & redevelop it's morale via inclusionment, team-based efforts, as well as knowledgeable & invested Superiors. Seems like the current set or clique is smoking the Company out of at least half a mil a year, with very little added value. What an oversight & such a shame! 

KBI is a company that knows that it is bad.  It is a unique level of self awareness that keeps anyone new from gaining too much ability to change anything for the better because management knows you will eventually leave.  The ones that have been the longest have done so by maintaining a toxic work environment that leaches every bit of energy from you before they eventually discard you. On the bright side this mess of a place allows for new graduates and early career starters a great entry point into industry due to the lightning fast turnaround time.  I was lucky enough to be one of those individuals to get a chance to get a good feel of the pharmaceutical industry and now I am an even luckier individual to leave.  My biggest advice is to get in and expose yourself to all of the areas that you can so you can leverage that knowledge to get a job somewhere that cares about you as a person and understands the benefits of strong company culture and fostering professional growth.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company tries hard to be a nice place to work.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
KBI has a very high turnover. You are constantly training people. And you are always short people. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Culture is odd. They demand that everyone is nice. Even when they screw up so badly that you have to work much harder, you can't say anything because that is not nice. There are few decision making positions. These guys fill with their friends. It is very clique-y. If you are not on the inside, you are in trouble.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day? In manufacturing, you show up for shift change. You find out that supply messed up again (it has been 2 years since they supplied a complete BOM), maintenance says that there is nothing wrong with the relay that caused the heat exchanger to overheat by 60 C, and that day shift completed 25% of the schedule.

I've been working at KBI Biopharma in Patriot Park Durham for 3 months now and I can already tell this is the right place to be. From the moment I had my 1st interview it was clear that the people in this company had a plan in place to ensure not only company success but also my personal success. My team has done everything in their power to make me feel welcome and comfortable with the work I will be performing for this company. My supervisors have mapped out a clear path for me to follow in order to achieve my personal goals within this company. I am looking forward to the future now that my work is finally being valued and my ideas taken in consideration. The company pays very well and has a great option of benefits. After 17 years of working for other companies and getting over looked many times I have no doubt that I've made the right decision by choosing this company. Would recommend to anyone who is ready to make big changes in their lives.   

My overall experience with this company was positive. From the beginning, communication was clear and professional, and I felt that expectations were laid out in a straightforward way. The team was supportive, respectful, and generally easy to work with.

The company runs in a fairly structured way, which helped things stay organized, but sometimes it felt a little rigid — especially when quick changes or flexibility were needed. That said, I did feel like there was a genuine effort to listen to feedback and make improvements when possible.

There’s definitely room to grow, like speeding up response times or adding more personal touch in interactions. But for the most part, they deliver on what they promise and create a decent experience for employees and/or customers.

I would recommend this company to others looking for a professional, steady, and reliable experience — especially if you value clear systems and consistency.

Not bad for awhile, but don't plan to stick around. Coworkers are nice and the work itself can be fun and satisfying in its way. I've learned a fair bit since being here. 
One major issue is that KBI rarely seems to invest in people. Managers don't mentor. New technology sits largely unused except for photo ops. Nearly every job title from PD Associate to Scientist II performs the exact same job. Advancement is hard to come by unless you're the type to butter up key managers. Current cadence is three years for a promotion. Maybe two if you live at work. (Maybe less if you're a cronie.) Many people become bitter and resentful after a couple of years, for good reason. Then we move on.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The mission trying to cure cancer 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My supervisor has need been a supervisor outside of the military. He rated my job performance on what he thought I would not be available to accomplish fast enough in the future. I couldn't reassure him so I was let go. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Professional but flexible. Growing 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I would come in a wait until my supervisor gave me work to do. I was not allowed to be proactive. I wasn't told to give ideas but the response was negative or ignored. I have always complete tasks within the prescribed time frame but I did not know I needed to give update as it worked the task. One I was complete, I would document what I did.  Rince and repeat.

(This applies to specifically the Texas branch. As far as I can tell, we are the tumor on the butt of a very successful Colorado and North Carolina branch.) 

I have no idea how this place has so many gifted scientists working here when it is what it is. The amount of turnover here is insane, which on its own, is bad, but they don't backfill any positions. 

I think only one of our 6 CMO project owners aren't furious with us (yet) and it seems like they could pull out at any time, including the one that already did.

You'll get promoted in title only and never have your pay increased, even for cost of living adjustment.

I could go on, just please don't work here. It WILL be a black mark on your resume WHEN it goes under.





Rigid internal structures make KBI a poor environment for career progression. Compensation is not competitive, especially given the high workload. KBI does not invest in employee training and retention. 

Promotions are limited by upper management, and promotion decisions seem to be made on paper with little regard for employees' actual work performance. Upper management gets overly involved with department-level decisions, severely limiting the abilities of department heads to perform their duties.

On the plus side, the work is interesting and there are many highly skilled employees to work with. High PTO is great as well.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Scientist 3 salaries reported	$101,000 per year
Senior research associate 11 salaries reported	$70,999 per year
Manufacturing associate 11 salaries reported	$27.01 per hour
Senior scientist 7 salaries reported	$113,286 per year
Research associate 8 salaries reported	$52,188 per year

Working at KBI Biopharma: Company Overview and Reviews

KBI Biopharma

KBI Biopharma Ratings

Popular jobs at KBI Biopharma

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected