Senior Application Specialist – Molecular Diagnostics & Sequencing

6248 Kapa Biosystems (Pty) Ltd; Kuilsrivier; On-site; ZAR 1,100,000 - 1,600,000; Full time

Job summary

Roche invites you to join our Global Customer Support Team as a technical expert for our products, driving customer success by leading and supporting complex projects and mentoring junior colleagues in troubleshooting and requirements definition.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, design training programs, review documentation, and ensure high-quality application notes while upholding Roche quality standards and processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, or related field.
• 5+ years in laboratory, technical support, or troubleshooting with customer contact.
• Strong knowledge of NGS workflows and molecular biology techniques.

Responsibilities

• Innovation Driver: support new applications from development to on-market support.
• Partner Consultant: assist partners in developing new applications using customer workflows.
• Expert Support: handle complex Level 2 inquiries post-launch with independent troubleshooting.
• Knowledge Sharing Specialist: design and deliver training programs for internal teams and customers.
• Content Expert: create/review customer-focused documentation and technical notes.
• Design Strategist: represent service perspective in design review teams and lead projects.
• Quality Ambassador: ensure Roche quality system compliance and identify process improvements.
• Flexible Team Player: take on additional tasks and projects as directed.

Skills

NGS expertise

Analytical thinking

Strong communication

Work independently

Team player

Service-oriented mindset

Documentation

Training

Project management

Bioinformatics knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in cell biology

Bachelor's degree in molecular biology

Bachelor's degree in biochemistry

Tools

NGS instruments

Bioinformatics tools

Documentation tools

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. Thanks to your experience in troubleshooting and best practices, you will solve technical challenges independently and confidently.
• 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.

We believe it’s urgent to deliver medical solutions right now – even as we develop innovations for the future. We are passionate about transforming patients’ lives. We are courageous in both decision and action. And we believe that good business means a better world. That is why we come to work each day. We commit ourselves to scientific rigor, unassailable ethics, and access to medical innovations for all. We do this today to build a better tomorrow. We are proud of who we are, what we do, and how we do it. We are many, working as one across functions, across companies, and across the world. We are Roche.