An Associate Scientist is required for a fantastic molecular diagnostics company who specialise in the detection of early-stage cancers. The Associate Scientist will be working in a fast-paced product development environment, within a highly skilled interdisciplinary team. The Associate Scientist will optimise and characterise enzymatic methods, develop and implement processes and tools to support enzyme manufacturing, and support the identification a creation of new enzymes or enzyme mutants with improved properties. This position is based at their site in Oxford.
On offer for the Associate Scientist is a competitive salary up to £28,000 depending on experience. This will include a benefits package which has a bonus, life insurance, medical and 25 days annual holiday.
Responsibilities of the Associate Scientist will include:
- Spend a most of your time in the lab; develop and commercialise groundbreaking genomic analysis technologies in a fast-paced product development environment.
- Optimise enzyme formulations and enzymatic methods to achieve commercial levels of performance, stability, and robustness.
- Support the identifying, sourcing, or engineering of novel enzymes enabling improved assay performance, stability, robustness, or other desirable characteristics.
- Characterise enzymes and enzymatic methods using a variety of analytical tools to identify and control critical parameters.
- Develop and document lab-scale processes for protein expression, purification, and QC to enable scaled manufacturing of high-quality enzymes.
- Use next-generation sequencing (NGS) data to measure the performance of enzymes and enzymatic processes.
- Develop and use activity-based and biophysical assays suitable for enzyme characterisation and QC.
- Produce new enzymes and enzyme mutants of sufficient quantity and quality to support internal development activities.
- Support the troubleshooting of complex development issues.
- Collaborate effectively with the broader R&D team on project execution and reporting.
- Present results, recommendations, and progress reports regularly to colleagues.
- Uphold company mission and values through accountability, innovation, integrity, quality, and teamwork.
- Support and comply with the company’s Quality Management System policies and procedures.
Required skillset to be the successful candidate:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or similar discipline.
- 1+ years of experience in academic or industrial research in the fields of protein engineering, expression, and purification or enzymology.
- Familiarity with modern methods for enzyme mutagenesis, screening, expression/purification, characterization, and QC.
- Expertise with a variety of analytical tools used for enzyme characterization; including activity-based assays and current biophysical methods.
- Demonstrated ability to perform the Essential Duties of the position with or without accommodation.
- Right to work in United Kingdom without sponsorship.
Desirable skills for the Associate Scientist:
- Expertise in the study and optimisation of DNA modification enzymes.
- Experience working with high throughput genomic analysis tools, especially NGS.
- Familiarity with the analysis and interpretation of NGS data.
- Experience developing RUO or IVD products in the NGS or genomics industry.
- Experience of RUO or IVD product development processes from concept through development and transfer to manufacturing.
- Experience establishing or working within a Quality Management System.