Director, Reagent Development
Job Description
At Veracyte, we offer exciting career opportunities for those interested in joining a pioneering team that is committed to transforming cancer care for patients across the globe. Working at Veracyte enables our employees to not only make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients, but to also learn and grow within a purpose driven environment. This is what we call the Veracyte way – it’s about how we work together, guided by our values, to give clinicians the insights they need to help patients make life-changing decisions.
Our Values:
- We Seek A Better Way: We pursue bold ideas, embrace complexity, and keep pushing forward.
- We Make It Happen: We act with urgency, deliver with excellence, and always find a way.
- We Are Stronger Together: We engage with empathy, align around what's best for Veracyte, and celebrate as one team.
- We Care Deeply: We show up with integrity, kindness, and respect for one another.
The Position:
We are seeking a highly driven and experienced Director of NGS Reagent Development to lead a dedicated team of development scientists in design, development, and optimization of NGS reagents specifically for use within our clinical laboratory products. Leveraging your deep expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology, you will guide the team from early-stage proof-of-concept through successful internal implementation. You will ensure all development, formulation, and internal scale-up activities maintain strict adherence to GMP and ISO 13485 quality standards to support our rigorous clinical testing operations.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Management
- Direct, mentor, and grow a team of research and development scientists, fostering a culture of scientific rigor, innovation, and continuous improvement.
- Define project goals, allocate resources, and manage timelines to ensure assay and reagent development milestones align with product and clinical laboratory needs.
- Provide technical guidance and troubleshooting support for complex biochemical and molecular challenges encountered during reagent optimization.
NGS Reagent Development
- Lead the end-to-end development, formulation, and optimization of enzymes, buffers, and chemical reagents for internal NGS applications (e.g., library preparation, target enrichment, sequencing chemistries).
- Design and execute robust verification and validation (V&V) studies tailored for the manufacturing workflows.
- Establish critical quality attributes (CQAs) and stability testing protocols for raw materials and finished reagents.
Quality & Compliance (GMP / ISO 13485)
- Ensure all reagent development and internal manufacturing activities strictly comply with ISO 13485 standards, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and our internal Quality Management System (QMS).
- Oversee the generation of meticulous design control and validation documentation, including standard operating procedures (SOPs), batch records, and quality control specifications required for CLIA/CAP compliance.
- Lead technical design reviews and phase-gate meetings for internal deployment.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with Product Development, Operations, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain teams to ensure seamless design transfer, scale-up, and internal production of NGS reagents.
- Collaborate with Bioinformatics team to ensure reagent specifications meet required assay performance metrics and turnaround times.
Who You Are:
Education & Background
- Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemistry, or a closely related discipline.
- 10+ years of industry experience in life sciences, biotechnology, or clinical diagnostics, with at least 5+ years in a management or leadership role.
Technical Expertise
- Deep Biochemistry Knowledge: Proven track record of developing and optimizing complex biochemical systems, enzymology, and nucleic acid interactions.
- NGS Mastery: Extensive hands-on experience developing reagents, kits, or assays specifically for Next-Generation Sequencing
- Reagent Development Lifecycle: Demonstrated success development of least one NGS reagent or relevant formulation from concept through design transfer and manufacturing implementation.
Regulatory & Quality Experience
- GMP/ISO Regulated Environments: Direct experience developing products under strict design control processes within an ISO 13485 and/or cGMP compliant environment.
- Clinical Lab Standards: Familiarity with CLIA/CAP guidelines and the specific quality and regulatory requirements for scaling reagents within a high-throughput clinical laboratory.
- Expertise in Design of Experiments (DoE), statistical analysis, and establishing rigorous QC metrics for reagent formulation.
Preferred Skills
- Excellent cross-functional communication and presentation skills.
- Strong strategic thinking paired with a willingness to "roll up your sleeves" and engage with the science.
- Experience managing raw material supply chains and interacting with external vendors for critical reagent components.
#LI-Onsite
The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to years of experience, skillset, geographic location, industry, education, etc. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.
What We Can Offer You
Veracyte is a growing company that offers significant career opportunities if you are curious, driven, patient-oriented and aspire to help us build a great company. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, and are committed to fostering an inclusive workforce, where diverse backgrounds are represented, engaged, and empowered to drive innovative ideas and decisions. We are thrilled to be recognized as a 2024 Certified™ Great Place to Work® in both the US and Israel - a testament to our dynamic, inclusive, and inspiring workplace where passion meets purpose.
About Veracyte
Veracyte (Nasdaq: VCYT) is a global diagnostics company whose vision is to transform cancer care for patients all over the world. We empower clinicians with the high-value insights they need to guide and assure patients at pivotal moments in the race to diagnose and treat cancer. Our Veracyte Diagnostics Platform delivers high-performing cancer tests that are fueled by broad genomic and clinical data, deep bioinformatic and AI capabilities, and a powerful evidence-generation engine, which ultimately drives durable reimbursement and guideline inclusion for our tests, along with new insights to support continued innovation and pipeline development. For more information, please visit www.veracyte.com or follow us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).
Veracyte, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability status. Veracyte participates in E-Verify in the United States. View our CCPA Disclosure Notice
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