Senior Application Specialist – Molecular Diagnostics & Sequencing

6248 Kapa Biosystems (Pty) Ltd; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Roche seeks a technically skilled professional in Cape Town to join our Global Customer Support Team as a senior specialist. You will act as a technical expert, drive customer success through leading projects, and mentor colleagues in troubleshooting and defining requirements.

You will collaborate with development and partners to enable new applications, manage complex inquiries post-launch, and design training material across regional centers, ensuring high-quality documentation and user

Qualifications

• Bachelor''s degree or higher in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a related field.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in a laboratory, technical support, or troubleshooting with direct customer contact.
• NGS expertise: in sample preparation, NGS workflows and common molecular biology techniques.
• Analytical thinking to understand complex customer workflows and adapt to new portfolio strategies.
• Strong communication to explain complex technical solutions to users, regardless of their background.
• Independent and structured work style, able to handle complex tasks with minimal guidance.
• Team player with cross-functional collaboration across regions.
• Service-oriented mindset to meet stakeholder expectations.
• Experience with sequencing instruments (NGS) and collaboration with development teams.
• Bioinformatics knowledge and analysis of NGS data.
• Exposure to creating and reviewing technical documentation.
• Training or mentoring colleagues.
• Initial project management experience.

Responsibilities

• Innovation Driver: work with development team to support new applications from development to on-market support.
• Partner Consultant: assist potential partners in developing new applications and understanding customer workflows.
• Expert Support: handle complex Level 2 inquiries after market launch.
• Knowledge Sharing Specialist: design/train internal teams and customers at regional support centers.
• Content Expert: create/review customer-focused documentation and technical notes.
• Design Strategist: represent service perspective in design reviews and lead projects.
• Quality Ambassador: ensure compliance with Roche quality system and help shape procedures.
• Flexible Team Player: take on additional tasks in consultation with management.

Skills

NGS expertise

Analytical thinking

Strong communication

Independent work

Team collaboration

Service mindset

Development collaboration

Bioinformatics

Technical documentation

Training experience

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in biology or related field

Tools

Illumina sequencing instruments

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 Your New Team As a member of our Global Customer Support Team, you'll serve as a technical expert for our products, drive our customers' success by leading/supporting complex projects and supporting cross-functional teams, and mentor junior team members in troubleshooting and defining requirements.

Responsibilities | What you can expect

• Innovation Driver: you'll work closely with our development team and passionately support new applications from development to on-market support.
• Partner Consultant: you'll assist potential partners in developing new applications, leveraging your deep understanding of customer workflows and our portfolio.
• Expert Support: After the market launch, you will take responsibility for complex Level 2 inquiries.
• Knowledge Sharing Specialist: You will design and optimize training programs for internal teams and customers and competently conduct training sessions and at regional support centers.
• Content Expert: You create and/or review customer-focused documentation and technical application notes to ensure the highest quality.
• Design Strategist: In design review teams, you represent the service and application perspective, lead projects, and ensure that design changes meet all functional requirements.
• Quality Ambassador: You ensure compliance with the Roche quality system, identify opportunities for process optimization, and actively help shape new departmental procedures.
• Flexible Team Player: You take on additional exciting tasks and projects in consultation with management.

Qualifications | What you bring to the table

You hold a bachelor's degree or higher in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a related field, and have at least 5 years of relevant experience in a laboratory, technical support, or troubleshooting- ideally with direct customer contact.

The following points round out your profile:

• NGS expertise: You possess in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of next-generation sequencing (NGS), particularly in sample preparation, NGS workflows and common molecular biology techniques.
• Analytical thinking: You find it easy to understand complex customer workflows and quickly familiarize yourself with new portfolio strategies.
• Strong communication skills: You can present complex technical solutions in an understandable way and convey them effortlessly to users - regardless of whether they have prior technical knowledge or not.
• Work style: You enjoy working independently and in a structured manner, even complex tasks and with minimal guidance.
• Team player: You enjoy collaborating with cross-functional teams across different regions.
• Service-oriented mindset: You are polite, customer-focused, and take ownership to meet the expectations of your internal and external stakeholders.
• Technical & Development Expertise: Experience with sequencing instruments (NGS, e.g., Illumina or other systems) and close collaboration with development teams is a major plus.
• Bioinformatics: You have knowledge of bioinformatics and the analysis of NGS data.
• Documentation: You have already had exposure to creating and reviewing technical documentation.
• Training: You have already gained experience in training or mentoring colleagues.
• Project Management: Ideally, you have already gained some initial experience in project management.

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.