Associate Scientist– Clinical Chemistry and Biomarker Research
About the role
This is a senior, hands-on leadership role that leads and coordinates the people and day-to-day operations of the clinical chemistry laboratory and owns the review, interpretation, and translation of analytical results into clear, actionable conclusions for therapeutic-area scientists, study teams, and cross-functional partners.
Responsibilities
Team Leadership, Delegation & Culture — Lead, coordinate, and develop the laboratory team of employees and contractors. Delegate effectively across the team, balance and schedule workload, and provide day-to-day coaching, mentoring, training, and competency development. Champion a collaborative, accountable, high-performing culture, and establish clear roles, expectations, and ways of working as the group rebuilds.
Interpretation & Translation of Results — Review and interpret clinical chemistry, hematology, pathology and biomarker data and translate results into clear conclusions and their biological and study context for therapeutic-area scientists, study directors, and cross-functional partners. Contextualize findings against species-specific reference intervals and expected physiology, follow up on anomalies, present result summaries, and serve as the laboratory’s point of contact for data interpretation.
Technical Leadership & Hands-On Support — Maintain personal competency in core clinical chemistry, pathology and biomarker methods. Perform, troubleshoot, and validate assays as needed to support the team, cover capacity, and onboard new tests; provide at-the-bench technical guidance; establish, deliver, and assess staff training and competency programs; and serve as a technical resource for laboratory personnel, study teams, veterinarians/pathologists, and external partners.
Quality, Compliance & Data Integrity — Oversee QC and data review to ensure high quality and eliminate errors. Author and revise SOPs/SLPs, methods, and guidelines; ensure adherence to applicable standards and quality systems (e.g., GLP/GCP/GCLP/CLIA/CAP as applicable); own investigations, corrective and preventive actions, and audit and inspection readiness.
Laboratory Operations & Standardization — Direct daily workflow, sample management and chain-of-custody, instrument readiness, inventory, and laboratory organization and safety — primarily through the team. Drive standardization and automation, and coordinate closely with the biomarker research labs on shared samples, hand-offs, and consistent standards across projects that span multiple groups. Set and track quality metrics, re-establish reliable on-time delivery, and evaluate, validate, and onboard new tests, technologies, instrumentation, and laboratory information systems (e.g., LIMS).
Partner, Vendor & Contractor Management — Build and maintain strong relationships with internal client scientists and study teams; understand their needs and set clear expectations and timelines. Provide scientific and technical oversight of contractors and of work conducted at third-party organizations / CROs, and act as the primary point of escalation for technical and delivery issues.
Process Optimization & Innovation — Champion process improvement, standardization, and automation to improve throughput, reproducibility, and data quality. Bring an out-of-the-box perspective to a discovery environment that does not fully mirror a standard clinical chemistry setting, adapting methods and evaluating new technologies — including artificial intelligence (AI) tools — to meet evolving research needs.
Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in biology, medical technology, clinical laboratory science, biochemistry, or a related scientific field
5+ years of demonstrated hands-on experience performing clinical chemistry and pathology or related analytical laboratory assays
Qualifications
Qualified applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
Deep understanding of the clinical chemistry world — analytes, assay principles, instrumentation, reference intervals, and physiological interpretation of results.
Veterinary or preclinical clinical pathology experience — animal models, species-specific hematology and clinical chemistry, and comfort partnering with veterinarians, study directors, biologists, and pathologists in a discovery setting.
Demonstrated team leadership or supervisory experience with the competency to train, assess, and supervise staff performing this work.
Creative, out-of-the-box problem-solver comfortable in a discovery environment that does not fully mirror a standard clinical chemistry laboratory, and a strong collaborator across teams.
Hands-on proficiency across clinical pathology methods, including automated hematology and chemistry analyzers and blood and bone-marrow smear preparation and review, with the ability to train others.
Board or laboratory certification (e.g., ASCP MT/MLS or veterinary equivalent) is not required in this discovery environment but is welcomed; a certification-grade, clinical-lab approach — regimented rigor and high documentation standards — is highly valued.
Experience with laboratory information management systems (e.g., Provantis, Signals) and proficiency with Excel and data-visualization tools.
Innovative perspective to adapt and welcome the AI-revolution.
Familiarity with biomarker assay formats (e.g., ELISA, MSD, immunoassays) is a plus.