Associate Scientist

BioSpace has been engaged to help our San Diego client hire an Associate Scientist to join their growing team. They are an emerging biotech company focused on bringing biomedical findings into diagnostic tools. We are looking for someone with strong experience in NGS for clinical laboratory assay development, and a good understanding of high throughput sequencing methodologies including targeted sequencing. He/she will work with a group of scientists to develop and validate laboratory-developed clinical diagnostics in our clinical laboratories. Understanding of the biology of cancer and low frequency variant detection is a plus. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a dynamic R&D team.

Job Responsibilities:

• Plan and carry out liquid biopsy and other molecular diagnostic assay development, optimization and validation trials under GLP specifications
• Successfully transfer new assay panels and technologies to the clinical laboratories across a range of product categories
• Work closely with scientific, analytical, engineering, and commercial teams to develop, transfer, and sustain new products.
• Participate and present findings at conferences
• Publish scientifically relevant data in peer reviewed journals
• Participate in the development of patent applications, if applicable

Job Requirements:

• M.S. in Molecular Biology, Genetics or related field and 3+ years' experience in a industrial setting. Ph.D. in Molecular Biology is preferred.
• Extremely capable and significantly experienced (hands-on) assay developer with demonstrated success in advanced NGS assay development using multiple library preparation methods and sequencing platforms (experience with Illumina technologies required; experience with other platforms including Ion Torrent or Oxford Nanopore a plus).
• Experience working closely with bioinformatics functions including data analysis method and pipeline development
• Ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with scientists in related disciplines, including multi-functional department projects and collaborations, with demonstrated success in achieving positive results with team members in non-biological disciplines
• Experience with PCR assay development preferred