Field Applications Scientist - Southern Plains

Oxford Nanopore Technologies; Iowa; On-site; USD 101,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Stock options

Healthcare benefits

401(k) plan

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Oxford Nanopore Technologies is seeking a commercially focused Field Applications Scientist to join the Technical Services team. This field-based role supports the Southern Plains territory with heavy travel, delivering pre- and post-sales technical support and training to customers while partnering with Sales to drive growth.

The ideal candidate will combine strong scientific credentials with excellent communication, problem-solving, and presentations skills to enable adoption of ONT workflows

Qualifications

• PhD in Life Sciences preferred, or a Master’s degree with relevant commercial, customer-facing, or scientific applications experience.
• Strong laboratory background in molecular biology, genetics, genomics, sequencing, or a closely related discipline.
• Experience supporting experimental design, sample preparation, workflow optimization, and data analysis.
• An exceptional scientific communicator and presenter who can translate complex technical concepts into compelling, customer-relevant stories.
• Demonstrated scientific troubleshooting and problem-solving capabilities.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Sales to support commercial opportunities and provide technical expertise throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Deliver pre-sales and post-sales technical support, including customer consultations, workflow discussions, training, and troubleshooting.
• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with customers, ensuring successful adoption and utilization of ONT technologies.
• Deliver presentations, workshops, seminars, and training to a wide range of audiences.
• Collaborate effectively with Technical Services, Sales, Product Management, Marketing, and other internal teams to achieve customer and business objectives.
• Develop and execute engagement plans for strategic accounts, aligned to customer needs and business priorities.
• Provide timely customer, market, and competitive feedback to internal stakeholders.
• Accurately document customer interactions and support activities within ONT's CRM systems.
• Contribute to a team-first culture by supporting colleagues, customers, and strategic initiatives beyond assigned territory responsibilities when required.
• Frequent travel is expected as part of this role.

Skills

Commercial focus

Communication skills

Team player

Problem solving

Customer-facing

Presentation skills

Self-motivated

Education

PhD in Life Sciences

Master's degree in Life Sciences or related field

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) is seeking a commercially focused and customer-oriented Field Applications Scientist (FAS) to join our Technical Services team. Reporting to the Technical Services Manager, you will work closely with customers, prospective clients, and internal stakeholders to drive technology adoption, support business growth, and ensure customer success with ONT products and workflows.

This is a highly customer-facing role that combines technical expertise with commercial awareness. The successful candidate will partner closely with Sales and cross-functional teams to support strategic opportunities, deliver technical guidance, and build strong customer relationships. Success in this role requires excellent communication skills, scientific credibility, and the ability to provide creative solutions to complex challenges.

This is a field-based role supporting the Southern Plains territory, including Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Candidates must reside within the territory, with a preference for individuals based in Kansas City, St. Louis, or Oklahoma City. Kansas City is particularly well positioned given its central location within the territory.

Frequent travel is required, averaging approximately 50% and occasionally reaching up to 70%, including both air and ground travel across the region.

• Partner with Sales to support commercial opportunities and provide technical expertise throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Deliver pre-sales and post-sales technical support, including customer consultations, workflow discussions, training, and troubleshooting.
• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with customers, ensuring successful adoption and utilization of ONT technologies.
• Deliver presentations, workshops, seminars, and training to a wide range of audiences.
• Collaborate effectively with Technical Services, Sales, Product Management, Marketing, and other internal teams to achieve customer and business objectives.
• Develop and execute engagement plans for strategic accounts, aligned to customer needs and business priorities.
• Provide timely customer, market, and competitive feedback to internal stakeholders.
• Accurately document customer interactions and support activities within ONT's CRM systems.
• Contribute to a team-first culture by supporting colleagues, customers, and strategic initiatives beyond assigned territory responsibilities when required.
• Frequent travel is expected as part of this role.

What We’re Looking For

• A commercially focused scientist who can balance technical excellence with customer and business objectives.
• An exceptional communicator and presenter, capable of engaging both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A collaborative team player who works effectively across territories and functions.
• A strong partner to Sales and other internal teams in supporting account strategies and commercial growth.
• A proactive and creative problem-solver with excellent troubleshooting skills.
• A self-motivated individual who thrives in a dynamic, customer-facing environment.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Life Sciences preferred, or a Master’s degree with relevant commercial, customer-facing, or scientific applications experience.
• Strong laboratory background in molecular biology, genetics, genomics, sequencing, or a closely related discipline.
• Experience supporting experimental design, sample preparation, workflow optimization, and data analysis.
• An exceptional scientific communicator and presenter who can translate complex technical concepts into compelling, customer-relevant stories.
• Demonstrated scientific troubleshooting and problem-solving capabilities.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with next-generation sequencing technologies and workflows strongly preferred; direct Oxford Nanopore or long-read sequencing experience is advantageous but not required
• Ability to uncover underlying customer needs, identify opportunities for broader technology adoption, and proactively partner with Sales to grow accounts.
• Experience delivering scientific training, workshops, or customer presentations.
• Familiarity with CRM systems such as Salesforce.

The salary for this role is between $101,000 and $120,000 USD. The salary offered will reflect the skills and experience of the candidate.

Certain roles within ONT are eligible for annual bonus and stock. These awards are allocated based on individual performance.

Employees based in the US have the option to choose healthcare benefits, participate in the company 401(k) plan and company match, we also offer short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, and commuter benefits to name a few.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We select and employ candidates only in accordance with their merits, qualifications, and abilities to perform the duties of the job regardless of gender, marital status, race, religion, color, age, disability, sexual orientation, military or veteran status. If you require an accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact

Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Our goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for faster, information rich, accessible and affordable molecular analysis. The first application is DNA/RNA sequencing, and the technology is in development for the analysis of other types of molecules including proteins. The technology is used to understand and characterise the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, and whole environments. With a thriving culture of ambition and strong innovation goals, Oxford Nanopore is a UK headquartered company with global operations and customers in more than 125 countries.