Principal Assay Development Scientist, RNA & Selection

BioTalent; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Equity participation

Private healthcare

Flexible working arrangements

Work on novel platform technologies

Job summary

BioTalent is seeking a Principal/Senior Assay Development Scientist in Cambridge, UK. The role is hybrid with on-site weekly engagement to lead complex RNA and selection-based assay development programmes and drive scalable, automation-friendly workflows.

You will design and optimize assays, validate performance, and collaborate across automation, bioinformatics and platform development teams while mentoring scientists and contributing to future technology strategies.

Qualifications

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Chemistry or related field.
• Significant industry assay development and screening experience.
• Proven ability to develop and validate complex molecular assays.
• Strong RNA and nucleic-acid technology expertise.
• Experience with RT, qPCR, primer and probe design.
• Experience with NGS library preparation.
• Ability to analyze complex data including NGS datasets.
• Excellent communication and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead optimization, validation and scale-up of screening platforms.
• Design studies to understand performance and variability.
• Develop controls, spike-ins and quality metrics.
• Build scalable workflows for automation and high-throughput work.
• Collaborate with bioinformatics to analyze datasets.
• Author SOPs, protocols and validation reports.
• Provide scientific leadership and mentoring.
• Contribute to platform strategy and new tech development.

Skills

Assay development

RNA technologies

qPCR

Primer design

NGS data analysis

Bead-based workflows

Education

PhD in Molecular Biology or related field

Tools

NGS library prep

qPCR instruments

Primer design software

Job description

BioTalent is seeking a Principal/Senior Assay Development Scientist in Cambridge, UK. The role is hybrid with on-site weekly engagement to lead complex RNA and selection-based assay development programmes and drive scalable, automation-friendly workflows.

You will design and optimize assays, validate performance, and collaborate across automation, bioinformatics and platform development teams while mentoring scientists and contributing to future technology strategies.