Staff Scientist, R&D (Women's Health)

Natera•San Carlos, CA

16d•$157,300 - $196,600

About The Position

We are looking for an inquisitive and creative Staff Scientist to initiate, direct, and execute pre-product scientific research with an emphasis in Women’s Health. This Staff Scientist will investigate the feasibility of applying a wide variety of scientific principles and concepts to potential inventions, products and problem solving. The ideal candidate will have broad knowledge of state-of-the-art molecular biology principles, with hands-on experience in next-generation DNA/RNA sequencing, nucleic acid technologies, multiomics, molecular diagnostics development, and/or proteomics.

Requirements

Ph.D. in molecular biology or closely related field
Minimum of 8 years of industry experience or 2 years of post-doctoral research + 6 years of industry experience
Must have experience with designing, executing, and analyzing data on next generation sequencing (NGS) and DNA/RNA molecular biology experiments
Strong research skills with a history of innovation.
Proven success in managing collaborative and individual projects and communicating externally.
Must have excellent communication, organizational, record-keeping, planning, time management, analytical and problem-solving skills.
Demonstrated experience in managing and providing basic level of leadership to research associates and junior scientists.
Demonstrated success in applying independent scientific judgment in experimental design and analysis.
Adept with Excel and basic statistical analysis.
Skilled at writing clear plans, reports and SOPs.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing tests in NIPT and/or liquid biopsy highly desirable
Experience with nucleic acid technologies relating to PCR, multiplex PCR, qPCR, and digital droplet PCR.
Multiomics, epigenetic/methylation, target enrichment, cfDNA/RNA experience is a plus.
Experience in women’s health molecular diagnostics is highly desirable.
Track record of originating, developing and productizing novel nucleic acid techniques and tests.
Bioinformatic capabilities, programming (e.g. PERL, python) and databases experience (SQL) are a plus.

Responsibilities

Contributes substantially and intellectually to research and development
Independently leads projects to create and develop novel nucleic acid based diagnostic tests; including planning, feasibility testing, protocol development, and optimization
Responsible for executing projects as per associated timelines and deliverables
Thoroughly comprehends the objectives and vision of the work
Develops plans, generates and advances new ideas
Performs basic data analysis, including statistics
Independently designs and executes moderate to high complexity experiments
Coordinates the execution and analysis of effective experiments with statistics and bioinformatics teams
Ability to work cross-functionally with statistics, bioinformatics, product development, and project management teams
Documents research progress under a Quality Management System
May manage Research Associates
May work with partners and outside collaborators
Communicates progress directly with colleagues and senior management