Senior Scientist R&D

Tempus AI, Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 94,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentive compensation

Restricted stock units

Medical benefits

Job summary

Tempus AI, Inc. seeks a Senior Scientist in Molecular Assay Development within R&D to co-lead assay design and development for IVD/CDx programs.

You will guide wet-lab staff and documentation teams, deliver V&V studies, and ensure regulatory compliance while collaborating across technology development, bioinformatics, quality control, and regulatory affairs. You will lead validation from inception to launch, manage sample selection, SOPs, validation plans, and summaries, and contribute to

Qualifications

• PhD or MS with industry experience in FDA-regulated IVD environments.
• Experience leading assay development for IVD/CDx programs.
• Ability to design and document V&V studies and regulatory submissions.

Responsibilities

• Lead assay development projects and cross-functional teams.
• Guide design documents, validation plans, and summaries.
• Ensure milestones, timelines, and budget alignment.
• Develop assay performance specifications and SOPs.
• Maintain compliant laboratory documents and procedures.

Skills

Scientific leadership

Assay development

R&D design documentation

Validation leadership

Regulatory compliance

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD in Nucleic Acids Biochemistry or Molecular Biology

MS with relevant industry experience

Tools

NGS

PCR

qPCR

Nucleic acid technologies

Job description

Passionate about precision medicine and advancing the healthcare industry? Recent advancements in underlying technology have finally made it possible for AI to impact clinical care in a meaningful way. Tempus' proprietary platform connects an entire ecosystem of real-world evidence to deliver real-time, actionable insights to physicians, providing critical information about the right treatments for the right patients, at the right time.

Senior Scientist, Molecular Assay Development in R&D

Passionate about precision medicine and advancing the healthcare industry? Recent advancements in underlying technology have finally made it possible for AI to impact clinical care in a meaningful way. Tempus' proprietary platform connects an entire ecosystem of real-world evidence to deliver real-time, actionable insights to physicians, providing critical information about the right treatments for the right patients, at the right time.

We are looking for a Senior Scientist within the Molecular Assay Development group to co-lead the design and development of assays in support of IVD & CDx programs. In this role you will lead projects with staff scientists that lead the wet lab efforts during development and guide documentation specialists to assist in IVD documentation efforts. You will rise to the challenge of designing, supporting and documenting V&V studies for molecular assays, ensure project deliverables are compliant with applicable regulations, and provide technical reports to support FDA submissions. You are expected to collaborate cross-functionally with members of technology development, bioinformatics, quality control, regulatory affairs, and the clinical lab.

What you’ll do:

• Maintain overall knowledge of the assay characteristics
• Provide scientific leadership to cross-functional teams
• Manage and lead generation of R&D design documents
• Lead validation team from project inception through launch including sample selection, hands‑on laboratory validation, establishing workflow and SOPs, and authoring validation plans and summaries
• Ensure activities are consistent with project critical path and respond appropriately to changing priorities
• Assist in developing and tracking project budgets
• Design assay performance specifications
• Ensure assay development process meets milestones and timelines
• Troubleshoot and solve technical issues
• Maintain compliant laboratory documents and procedures
• Proactively improve efficiency, quality and effectiveness of R&D efforts

Qualifications:

• PhD in Nucleic Acids Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, or related field with 3+ years industry experience -or- MS with industry experience commensurate with requirements
• Demonstrated leadership capabilities in assay development in an FDA regulated environment for IVD products under design controls
• Strong technical expertise and hands on experience with nucleic acid technologies with a preference towards NGS, PCR, and qPCR techniques
• Proven ability to apply principles of quality control and quality assurance to development activities
• Strong understanding of FDA, EUA, and other global regulatory requirements
• Demonstrated technical and project leadership expertise
• Good organization skills, detailed oriented mindset
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced environment
• Team driven

$94,000.00-$135,000.00 The expected salary range above is applicable if the role is performed from Illinois and may vary for other locations (California, Colorado, New York). Actual salary may vary based on qualifications and experience.

Benefits:

• Tempus offers a full range of benefits, which may include incentive compensation, restricted stock units, medical and other benefits depending on the position.

Company culture:

We are an equal opportunity employer.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Tempus was founded in August of 2015 by Eric Lefkofsky, after his wife was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Shortly after he founded the company in an effort to bring the power of technology and artificial intelligence to cancer care, he convinced Ryan Fukushima to join as the company’s first employee. Ryan and Eric began assembling a world class team, focused on building the first version of a platform capable of ingesting real time healthcare data in an effort to personalize diagnostics. We built the platform for oncology and have expanded it to neuropsychiatry, cardiology, infectious disease (through COVID), and radiology. Despite our rapid growth, our mission remains the same—to help make sure patients are on the right drug at the right time, so they can live longer and healthier lives. We’re looking for people who can change the world.

Who question the status quo and don’t shy away from tough problems. For the builders who are never done building and the learners who are never done learning. We’re looking for passionate people with undying curiosity. Those who want to attack one of the most challenging problems mankind has ever faced. Head on.