Principal / Senior Scientist, Assay Development (RNA & Selection Technologies)

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

Principal / Senior Scientist, Assay Development (RNA & Selection Technologies)

Cambridge, UK | On-site hybrid - weekly

We're working with an innovative biotechnology company developing next-generation molecular discovery platforms at the intersection of synthetic biology, RNA engineering and high-throughput screening.

As the platform continues to scale, we are looking for an experienced Principal or Senior Assay Development Scientist to take ownership of complex assay development programmes and help drive the evolution of advanced RNA and selection-based technologies.

This is a highly hands-on scientific leadership role where you'll be responsible for improving assay performance, reproducibility, throughput and scalability while collaborating closely with teams spanning automation, bioinformatics and platform development.

What you'll be doing

• Lead the optimisation, validation and scale-up of complex screening and selection platforms.
• Design studies to understand assay performance, identify sources of variability and implement improvements.
• Develop robust controls, standards, spike-ins and quality metrics to support reliable data generation.
• Build scalable workflows suitable for automation and high-throughput operation.
• Work closely with bioinformatics teams to support analysis of screening and NGS-generated datasets.
• Collaborate with automation and technology teams to industrialise laboratory workflows.
• Author protocols, SOPs, technical reports and validation documentation.
• Provide technical leadership, troubleshooting support and mentoring to scientists across the organisation.
• Contribute to platform strategy and future technology development.

What we're looking for

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Chemistry or a related discipline.
• Significant industry experience in assay development, screening technologies, directed evolution platforms, selection technologies or related areas.
• Proven experience developing, optimising and validating complex molecular biology or biochemical assays.
• Strong hands-on expertise in RNA and nucleic-acid technologies, including:
• Reverse transcription
• qPCR
• Primer and probe design
• Magnetic bead workflows
• NGS library preparation
• Strong understanding of assay robustness, sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and experimental bias.
• Experience implementing controls, standards and quality frameworks for quantitative assays.
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex biological datasets, including NGS-based screening data.
• Strong scientific judgement and a data-driven approach to problem solving.
• Excellent communication skills and experience working across multidisciplinary teams.

Particularly interesting backgrounds

Candidates with experience in one or more of the following areas would be highly relevant:

• mRNA display
• Ribosome display
• Directed evolution technologies
• Deep mutational scanning
• High-throughput screening platforms
• RNA biology
• Synthetic biology
• Genetic code expansion
• Translation systems
• Library screening technologies

Additional experience in assay automation, Design of Experiments (DoE), scale-up activities and assay transfer between teams or sites would be advantageous.

What's on offer

• Annual bonus opportunity
• Long-term incentive/equity participation
• Private healthcare and enhanced benefits package
• Opportunity to work on genuinely novel platform technologies
• High-impact role in a growing and well-funded biotechnology environment
• Flexible consideration of permanent, contract, full-time or part-time arrangements for exceptional candidates

This opportunity would suit someone who enjoys solving complex assay-development challenges, building robust scientific workflows and working at the forefront of next-generation molecular technologies.