We are seeking an experienced and creative Scientist or Senior Scientist to join our team developing next-generation molecular diagnostic workflows.

This role is ideal for a scientist who enjoys tackling complex biological and technical challenges, developing new methods, and translating ideas into robust laboratory workflows.

You will play a key role in the development of novel sample preparation, nucleic acid processing, and sequencing-based workflows for microbial detection and characterisation. Your work will sit at the intersection of molecular biology, biochemistry, assay development, and next-generation sequencing.

In this role, you will contribute across the full experimental cycle – from designing studies and generating data to interpreting results, troubleshooting challenges, and improving workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize novel molecular biology and biochemical assays.
• Develop workflows for nucleic acid extraction, enrichment, depletion, amplification, and sequencing.
• Design and execute experiments to investigate challenging biological and technical questions.
• Troubleshoot assay performance and identify root causes of experimental failures.
• Evaluate and integrate new technologies, reagents, and methodologies.
• Analyse and interpret experimental data and communicate findings clearly across the team.
• Contribute to scientific strategy and technology development decisions.
• Maintain high standards of experimental rigor, documentation, and reproducibility.

Desired Background

We welcome candidates from a range of scientific disciplines, including molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genomics, biotechnology, or related fields.

We recognize that candidates may bring different combinations of experience. Relevant experiences are:

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in a relevant life science discipline.
• Extensive hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques.
• Experience developing, optimizing, or validating new assays.
• Experience with nucleic acid biochemistry and enzymology.
• Experience with protein biochemistry or enzyme characterization.
• Experience with next-generation sequencing technologies.
• Experience with metagenomics, microbial genomics, or microbiome analysis.
• Experience working with complex biological samples.
• Strong quantitative and experimental design skills.

What Success in This Role Looks Like

Success in this role often comes from experience developing new methods rather than solely executing established protocols.

Examples might include:

• Creating a new assay where no established protocol existed.
• Solving a difficult technical bottleneck in a research project.
• Significantly improving the performance, robustness, or cost of an experimental workflow.
• Combining techniques from multiple disciplines to solve a problem.
• Working effectively in environments where the path forward was unclear.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues across biology, engineering, product development, and external partnerships to advance new technologies.

We value scientific curiosity, thoughtful experimentation, creativity, collaboration, and rigorous scientific thinking. We welcome different scientific backgrounds and approaches to problem-solving.

What We Offer

• The opportunity to work on challenging and impactful scientific problems.
• A highly collaborative and intellectually stimulating environment.
• Significant influence on technology development and scientific direction.
• The chance to contribute to technologies with real-world diagnostic applications.
• An enthusiastic and joyful team!

If you are excited by scientific discovery, enjoy developing new experimental approaches, and want to contribute to technologies with real-world impact, we would love to hear from you. We encourage applications from candidates whose experience may not match every item listed above but who believe they could thrive in this role.

How to apply

If you are interested, please send your CV including a cover letter and any additional portfolios / projects to knock-knock@cellectric.com