Field Applications Scientist I, North America

Position: Field Applications Scientist I, North America

Position Type: Full-Time

Department: Scientific Support

Location: Remote. Must be close to a major airport (within 30 miles). Preference for East Coast. 

Experience: MS required; 4+ years experience in a Field Applications role 

Position Summary

Watchmaker Genomics (WMG) is inviting applications for the full-time position of Field Applications Scientist I, North America (remote). 

This position reports to the Field and Automation Program Manager and will be mainly responsible for providing field technical support for new opportunities and key accounts for Watchmaker’s Next-Gen Sequencing (NGS) and precision enzyme product portfolio. This position will support the North American technical team by providing pre- and post-sales technical and scientific support, including presenting technical content to customers, co-travel with sales team members, attending and/or presenting at conferences and assisting with various marketing activities. This position is field based, with approximately up to 75% travel within the US (potential for some international travel). 

Prior experience with providing field application support is required. The successful candidate will be self-motivated, proactive, and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced working environment contributing directly to our company culture and success.

The position is expected to have a deep technical understanding of our current product portfolio, maintain knowledge of current and new NGS products, workflows-associated applications, competitor products and NGS automation support offerings, and identify and escalate changes in the market dynamics. This position is also accountable for providing customer feedback on WMG products, in addition to identifying unmet customer needs that will enable the development of new and innovative products.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for providing pre- and post-sales technical and scientific support, both onsite and remote, for customers across WMG’s NGS and precision enzyme product portfolio. 
• North America-based travel (up to 75%) activities including co-travel with sales team members, meetings with key customers, providing training and troubleshooting, and participating in trade shows/conferences. Possible opportunity for international travel.
• Provides deep product knowledge to solve customer challenges. Triages issues, troubleshoots investigations, and identifies solutions.
• Creation of training material, and presenting technical content to new or current customers
• Inform and implement processes as a part of our North American-field based scientific support organization.
• Maintain expert-level knowledge of current and new NGS products and workflows, our precision enzyme portfolio and associated applications, competitor products and NGS automation support offerings. 
• Provide customer and market feedback on WMG products; Identify and communicate unmet customer needs that will aid in the development of new and innovative products.
• Work closely with the commercial team to identify and support collaborations with leading research institutions and industry partners to accelerate the sales cycle, including both pre-sales and post-sales troubleshooting. 
• Support marketing activities including generation of customer-facing technical content (i.e. posters, app/tech notes, white papers, webinars) as well as participating in and presenting at trade shows/conferences.
• Participate in sales, marketing, and product strategy meetings when appropriate. 
• Follow best practices and documentation requirements for customer-related activities and events in CRM.
• Additional duties as required within the remit and responsibilities of the role

Required Qualifications and Experience

Relevant experience providing field-based applications support for next-generation sequencing (NGS) experiments and/or other advanced genomics applications. Relevant experience includes working in high-throughput sequencing labs developing, optimizing and troubleshooting NGS workflows both manually and on automated platforms and managing large sequencing projects. 

Qualified candidates will have a proactive approach with a can-do attitude, and be great communicators with a high level of self-motivation. Candidates will also have a strong desire to continually improve, learn and collaborate to help WMG stay at the forefront of exciting new applications spaces. Candidates will be able to demonstrate a high standard experience to our customer base, excel in the art of troubleshooting, and take ownership and pride in their work.

Candidates will have the courage to initiate discussions with customers to challenge the current "status quo" and have the confidence to drive change and adoption of new concepts. Full product training will be provided.

The following skills and experience are requirements for the position:

• MSc in Genetics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or related field
• 4+ Years experience within NGS field applications 
• Advanced knowledge of and practical experience with experimental design, applications/assay development, NGS library preparation, PCR, qPCR, good lab practices, and troubleshooting. Automation knowledge of NGS assays is a plus 
• Ability to travel potentially up to 75% of time 
• Strong customer consultative skills which includes application of scientific knowledge and analysis, exceptional customer engagement, and fostering of customer relationships
• High self-motivation and must have demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative team environment
• Experience with CRM software (particularly Salesforce.com) highly desirable
• Proactive mindset with excellent time-management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, multiple languages is a plus
• Excellent organizational, prioritization and time management skills 
• Outstanding attention to detail

The base compensation for the Field Applications Scientist role starts at $90,000 - $120,000 + bonus + equity; actual pay will be adjusted based on skills and experience. Employees are eligible for Flexible Time Off, Holidays, employer covers 75% of base medical plan with buy-up options, employer paid dental, employer paid vision, employer paid $25,000 life/AD&D policy, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% match.

Application Procedure

To apply for the position, please submit the following in a PDF format on watchmakergenomics.com: 

• Letter of motivation 
• Resume or Curriculum vitae, highlighting relevant qualifications and experience

Applications without a Letter of Motivation will not be considered. Local candidates preferred.

If selected to participate in the interview process, the names and contact information of three professional references who are able to assess your suitability for the position in terms of the specified requirements will be requested.

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WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER

Watchmaker Genomics is committed to being an equal opportunity employer and creating a culturally diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, or veteran status or any other characteristics as protected by applicable law.

All applicants will be asked if currently eligible to work in the United States of America; and if now or in the future will require visa sponsorship to continue working in the United States.

This position may be subject to pre-employment checks, including driving history check, drug screening and a background check for any convictions directly related to its duties and responsibilities. All pre-employment checks will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.