Senior Field Engineering Specialist - Mass Spectrometry - Chicago

Roche Holding AG; West Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 78,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company vehicle

Annual performance bonus

Job summary

Roche Holding AG seeks a Senior Field Engineering Specialist – Mass Spectrometry to act as the country-wide SME for cobas i601 platforms. You will lead installations, maintenance, and deep diagnostics while guiding customer operators through advanced workflows.

The role is field-based with >80% national travel, requiring expert electrical/mechanical troubleshooting, cross-functional collaboration, and mentorship of regional engineers. A strong clinical/diagnostics background is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering or chemistry field and 3–5 years of hardware/software repair experience.
• 3 years in a clinical/manufacturing or diagnostic setting focusing on LC-MS.
• Electro‑mechanical and fluidics troubleshooting experience.

Responsibilities

• Serve as national escalation point for cobas i601 mass spectrometry platforms across laboratories nationwide.
• Diagnose and repair specialized hardware including UHV pumps and ESI/APCI sources.
• Lead advanced preventive maintenance, replace LC columns, and optimize detector settings.
• Analyze TICs, mass spectra, isotopic distributions, and tuning logs to diagnose issues.
• Deliver master-level training to clinical staff and internal service teams nationwide.
• Bridge hardware repairs with application workflows to optimize run conditions.
• Mentor field engineers and drive national quality improvements.
• Provide after-hours and travel-based support for critical escalations.

Skills

LC-MS/MS troubleshooting

Field service engineering

National leadership

Travel-ready

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering or Chemistry

Tools

LC-MS/MS systems

UHPLC/HPLC

Vacuum systems

Job description

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

Senior Field Engineering Specialist – Mass Spectrometry - Chicago

A healthier future. It’s what drives us to innovate. To continuously advance science and ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need today and for generations to come. Creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love. That’s what makes us Roche.

The Opportunity

Roche Support Network offers an exciting opportunity for individuals who are passionate about technical excellence and national leadership. As a National Field Engineering Specialist – Mass Spectrometry, you will serve as the country-wide Subject Matter Expert (SME) and top-tier technical authority for Roche’s fully automated mass spectrometry platform, the cobas i601.

While strategically located within a designated home region, you will belong to a national expert team responsible for resolving the most challenging technical escalations across the United States. Unlike traditional Core Lab liquid-phase diagnostic systems, automated clinical mass spectrometry introduces complex gas-phase ion physics, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems, and extreme-pressure fluidics. In this high-level role, you will lead complex nationwide installations, advanced preventive maintenance, and deep diagnostics troubleshooting. You will also bridge the gap between engineering and applications workflows—training customer operators nationally, guiding application optimization, and serving as a senior technical mentor across the Roche Support Network.

As a Senior Field Engineering Specialist, you will:

• Serve as National Technical SME: Act as the primary national escalation point for the installation, advanced service, calibration, and root-cause repair of cobas i601 mass spectrometry platforms across customer laboratories nationwide.

• Master Mass Spec & LC Hardware Engineering: Diagnose and repair specialized hardware, including ultra-high vacuum (UHV) pumps, atmospheric pressure ionization (ESI/APCI) sources, electromagnetic ion optics, oscillating RF/DC quadrupoles, and high-pressure/ultra-high pressure LC pumps operating at thousands of PSI.

• Lead Advanced Maintenance: Perform deep molecular-pathway preventive maintenance, including rebuilding and oiling vacuum pumps, cleaning ion sources and sampling capillaries, replacing LC columns, and optimizing detector/mass resolution settings.

• Applications & Workflow Integration: Cross-over into application workflow support by analyzing Total Ion Chromatograms (TIC), mass spectra (m/z ratios), isotopic distributions, and mass calibration tuning logs to diagnose root-cause hardware or separation issues.

• National Application & Technical Training: Deliver master-level technical and application workflow training to clinical lab personnel and internal service teams nationwide, covering platform operation, maintenance, fluidic care, vacuum integrity, and advanced troubleshooting.

• Contamination & Science-Based Troubleshooting: Resolve complex issues at the intersection of engineering and chemistry, such as chemical matrix suppression, isobaric cross-talk, micro‑fluidic solvent leaks, and airborne chemical contamination (e.g., silicones/phthalates) affecting detector response.

• National Mentorship & Quality Standards: Drive continuous national quality improvements, document activities in Roche’s CRM system, mentor field engineers across all regions, and collaborate directly with global technical support and R&D teams.

• National Support & Travel: Serve as a dedicated resource for critical service-related issues, providing national escalation support after hours, weekends, or holidays as required.

This is a field-based role. Remote, field-based role on a National Team. Regional residence requirement: Central States. Chicago Preferred.

Travel: Overnight travel is expected > 80% of the time across the national territory to support critical customer escalations, implementations, and training events.

A company vehicle is provided with this position.

Who You Are

• Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry or related field plus 3 - 5 years of progressive experience repairing or servicing complex mechanical/system hardware and software

• 3 years experience in a clinical, manufacturing or research setting in a health or diagnostics industry environment with a focus on quantitative LC-MS

• Electro‑mechanical and fluidics troubleshooting experience

• Ability to travel, including some overnight travel, is required

• Ability to support after hours and on weekends/holidays

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive field service engineering experience, with a significant concentration dedicated specifically to LC-MS/MS or automated mass spec platforms.

• Advanced Engineering & Scientific Literacy: Deep operational mastery of vacuum leak detectors, mass calibration tuning fluids, RF/DC voltage oscilloscopes, nitrogen gas flow meters, and analytical chromatography data interpretation.

• Cross-Functional Application Mastery: Proven ability to bridge hardware engineering repairs with customer application workflows, helping laboratory staff optimize run conditions and troubleshoot complex sample matrix or separation anomalies.

• National Leadership & Coaching: Demonstrated success serving as a National Subject Matter Expert (SME), lead escalation engineer, or technical instructor for nationwide teams.

• Clinical Environment & Compliance: Strong working knowledge of clinical laboratory workflows, regulatory standards (CLIA, CAP), and laboratory safety protocols.

• Recognized subject matter expertise in maintaining, repairing, and troubleshooting clinical or analytical mass spectrometry systems (LC-MS/MS), triple quadrupoles, high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC/UHPLC), and vacuum systems.

• Demonstrated experience providing high‑tier national escalation support, technical mentorship, and cross‑functional training on applications workflows.

• Successful completion of required Roche training certifications upon hire.

• Ability to travel nationally, including frequent overnight travel, as dictated by national customer escalations and training needs.

Relocation benefits are not available for this job posting

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of Illinois State is 78,100.00-145,00.000. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job‑related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

Benefits

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life‑changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

Roche is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in relation to the online application process, please contact us by completing this form Accommodations for Applicants.