Medical Liaison Scientist (MLS)

ScubaTx Limited; Manchester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

ScubaTx Limited, a Manchester-based medtech company, seeks a Medical Liaison Scientist to oversee on-ground deployment of ATC-Heart in the US. The role requires frequent travel to Houston and a base in Manchester with ongoing UK team liaison. Start date is September 2026 or negotiable upon PhD completion.

This is a permanent, full-time position reporting to the CSO. The MLS will coordinate day-to-day activity with LifeGift and Houston clinicians, translate technical performance into commercial

Qualifications

• Degree in life sciences, biomedical engineering, or related field with preference for PhD.
• Experience in clinical, medical device, or life-sciences commercial environments with clinician interaction.
• Strong data analysis skills and ability to translate data into insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with senior clinicians and OPO leaders.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to the USA as required.
• Self-motivated, autonomous, and able to operate remotely from the UK team.
• Familiarity with organ transplantation, OPO operations, or related workflows.
• Experience supporting a medtech company in early-stage or scale-up context.

Responsibilities

• Real-world deployment support: coordinate logistics with LifeGift and Texas partners.
• Provide on-site training and workflow integration for recovery teams and clinicians.
• Monitor device performance data; ensure data quality and usability.
• Maintain relationships with Houston clinicians and OPO staff; act as day-to-day contact.
• Prepare field reports; contribute to milestone and stage-gate reporting.
• Develop customer-facing materials and support publications and presentations.

Skills

Data analysis

Communication

Project coordination

Travel willingness

Clinical/medical device experience

US healthcare knowledge

Org transplantation familiarity

Medtech startup experience

Stakeholder management

Autonomy

Education

BSc / MSc / PhD in life sciences or related

PhD completion in qualifying stage considered

Tools

Excel

Job description

Location: Manchester, UK (Manchester Science Park) – with frequent travel (including to Houston, Texas, USA)

Reports to: Chief Scientific Officer (Project Director), with day-to-day technical liaison to the Technical Director

Contract: Permanent, full-time

Start date: September 2026, or by negotiation to accommodate PhD completion

Salary: Dependent on experience

Funding: Year 1 funded through the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Post-Accelerator grant (ATC-Heart project); ScubaTx intends this to be an ongoing, permanent role supporting continued US commercial deployment beyond the grant period

Role Purpose

ScubaTx's Active Temperature Control (ATC-Heart) platform is moving from laboratory-validated device into real-world deployment with an Organ Procurement Organisation (OPO) and clinical partners in Houston, Texas. The Medical Liaison Scientist (MLS) will be ScubaTx's dedicated, on-the-ground representative for this deployment: coordinating day-to-day activity with LifeGift and Houston-based clinicians, translating technical and clinical performance into commercial value, and ensuring the system integrates smoothly into existing OPO and transplant workflows.

This is a new, dedicated role rather than an extension of an existing one. The project requires sustained, continuous on-the-ground presence in Houston throughout the real-world deployment phase – a level of engagement that cannot be provided alongside the existing part-time, ad hoc or strategic-oversight commitments of the CEO, CSO and Technical Director.

Key Responsibilities

1. Real-world deployment support

• Coordinate day-to-day logistics of ATC-Heart deployment with LifeGift (Houston OPO) and Texas-based clinical partners (Texas Heart Institute, Texas A&M/EnMed).
• Provide on-site training and workflow-integration support for OPO recovery teams and transplant clinicians, working with the Technical Director on device troubleshooting where required.
• Monitor, record and quality-check device performance, reliability and usability data generated during real-world transport and preservation.
• Support ScubaTx's relationships with OPO staff, transplant surgeons and coordinators, serving as an accessible and professional day-to-day contact throughout the project.
• Build and maintain relationships with Houston-based clinicians and OPO leadership, representing ScubaTx professionally at customer sites.
• Maintain a clear feedback loop between the field and the UK technical and commercial teams.

3. Data analysis & customer value modelling

• Support structured customer insight gathering (workflow requirements, adoption criteria, procurement decision drivers).
• Analyse real-world performance and usability data generated during deployment.
• Contribute data collection and analysis in support of the quantified customer value model, working under the direction of the Project Director.

4. Reporting, training & dissemination

• Produce regular field reports and contribute to milestone and stage-gate reporting to the Project Director.
• Support development of customer-facing training materials and clinician communication resources.
• Contribute to conference presentations and publications of project findings (e.g. ISHLT, AOPO), subject to commercial confidentiality.
• Prepare and maintain product materials for clinical interactions, including leaflets, slide decks and other resources to support customer-facing activities.
• Support the design and execution of further evidence-generating initiatives as identified by the Project Director.
• Assist in drafting and reviewing publications and scientific communications in collaboration with clinicians and academic scientists.

Travel Requirements

This role is based in ScubaTx's Manchester office but requires frequent travel to Houston, Texas, concentrated during the real-world deployment phase of the project (approximately November 2026 – June 2027):

• During the deployment phase: on-the-ground presence in Houston of approximately one week in every four to six weeks, with more frequent trips around key training and deployment milestones.
• Before and after this window: shorter, more occasional visits for relationship-building, planning and follow-up.
• Occasional additional travel to other US sites or relevant conferences as required.
• Candidates must be able to travel to, and undertake business activity in, the United States (e.g. via ESTA/B-1 or equivalent business travel authorisation).

Person Specification

• Degree (BSc, MSc, or PhD, including candidates in the final stages of thesis completion) in a relevant life sciences, biomedical engineering, clinical or related discipline.
• Experience in a clinical, medical device or life-sciences commercial environment, ideally involving direct interaction with clinicians, hospital or procurement staff. Relevant doctoral research experience in a life sciences or clinical context will be considered equivalent.
• Strong data analysis skills (e.g. Excel and/or statistical software), with the ability to translate technical and clinical data into clear commercial insight.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, comfortable liaising confidently with senior clinicians and OPO leadership.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently and independently to the USA, as set out above.
• Self-motivated and comfortable operating with significant autonomy while based remotely from the core UK team.
• Familiarity with organ transplantation, organ preservation, or OPO operations.
• Experience with medical device field deployment, clinical evaluations, or post-market surveillance.
• Understanding of US healthcare and transplant procurement/reimbursement pathways.
• Prior experience supporting an early-stage or scale-up medtech company.

About ScubaTx

ScubaTx is a Manchester- and Houston-based medical device company developing the Active Temperature Control (ATC) platform: a reusable, plug-and-play system that actively regulates and maintains precise, tuneable temperatures for donor organs during transport, alongside proprietary oxygen persufflation technology. ATC-Heart, the company's first product application, is approaching FDA 510(k) submission and initial US commercial deployment. This role is central to that transition from late-stage development into real-world clinical use.