Senior Scientist, Biotechnology - Pathogen

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas: Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology, Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change & Managing CO₂, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. This is ambitious work – work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real‑world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from laboratory to society.

Welcome to the Pathogen Project. Within this ecosystem, the Pathogen Mission exemplifies EIT's commitment to transformative science. It aims to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases by leveraging whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based metagenomic and pathogen‑specific analytical tools. This remit includes the development of a decentralised, sample‑to‑answer sequencing diagnostic platform for infectious diseases, enabling rapid and accurate analysis of patient samples without prior assumptions. Supported by Oracle Inc.'s cloud‑computing scale and security infrastructure, the Pathogen Mission is progressing toward certified diagnostic products for deployment in laboratories, hospitals, and public health organisations worldwide.

Your Role: At EIT, we're seeking an experienced and detail‑orientated Senior Scientist, Biotechnology, to contribute to the early‑stage development of a device‑based metagenomic pathogen detection platform within EIT Oxford's Pathogen Programme. This work focuses on establishing proof of concept for a modular workflow enabling infectious disease diagnosis at or near the point of care. In this laboratory‑based role, you will design and execute hypothesis‑led experiments to interrogate and iteratively refine nucleic acid extraction, purification, and manipulation workflows within a fluidic device architecture. You will apply quantitative characterisation, controlled comparisons, and mechanistic insight to drive system‑level improvements and systematically reduce technical uncertainty through disciplined, evidence‑based experimentation. You will bring strong expertise and demonstrable experience developing nucleic acid handling or enzyme‑based systems. Experience with surface chemistry, microfluidic environments, polymer or material interfaces, or low‑input nucleic acid workflows is advantageous. You should be comfortable operating in an exploratory, data‑driven research environment, using structured experimentation, quantitative analysis, and rapid, evidence‑guided iteration to navigate ambiguity and progress early‑stage technology development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Designing and executing statistically robust, hypothesis‑driven experiments with appropriate controls to isolate key variables and generate reproducible, decision‑informing data.
• Applying structured experimental design approaches (e.g. factorial design, parameter sweeps, sensitivity analysis) to systematically explore design space and identify critical performance drivers.
• Investigating the physicochemical principles underlying nucleic acid adsorption, elution, surface interactions, and partitioning within device materials and reagent systems.
• Characterising enzyme‑substrate interactions under non‑ideal conditions, including the effects of inhibitors, ionic strength, crowding, and surface chemistry on catalytic efficiency and fidelity.
• Developing and applying quantitative analytical frameworks to define performance metrics, establish baselines, and guide iterative optimisation across workflow stages.
• Systematically identifying sources of variability and technical risk, quantifying their impact, and prioritising mitigation strategies based on experimental evidence and expected effect size.
• Translating mechanistic findings into clear design recommendations that inform workflow architecture, reagent formats, surface treatments, and fluid handling strategies during iterative prototype development.
• Working closely with engineers to align biochemical and chemical requirements with device design constraints and integration priorities.

Requirements:

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• PhD (or equivalent experience) in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Bioengineering, Biotechnology, or a closely related discipline.
• Deep expertise in characterising biomolecular systems, including quantitative analysis of enzyme kinetics, binding interactions, and nucleic acid chemistry under non‑ideal or constrained conditions.
• Demonstrated ability to design controlled experiments that distinguish mechanistic effects from artefact in complex, multi‑variable systems.
• Experience with surface functionalisation and bioconjugation strategies, including immobilisation of polynucleotides, enzymes, antibodies, or other biomolecules onto solid supports or device‑relevant materials.
• Strong understanding of nucleic acid purification, separation, and manipulation, including the chemical principles governing adsorption, elution, and stability.
• Hands‑on experience in assay development and analytical method development using quantitative performance criteria, reproducibility standards, and data‑driven decision making.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Experience quantifying non‑nucleic acid chemical species (e.g. inhibitors, contaminants, residual reagents) within multi‑step laboratory workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to interrogate the physicochemical behaviour of polynucleotides, enzymes, and related analytes within complex or miniaturised systems.
• Familiarity with library preparation chemistries and sequencing workflows, including Oxford Nanopore and other next‑generation sequencing platforms, with awareness of upstream chemical constraints affecting downstream performance.
• Experience working with microfluidic systems, polymer interfaces, or material‑biomolecule interactions.

Key Attributes:

Scientific and Technical Expertise:

• Proven ability to design, implement, and troubleshoot bioconjugation and surface‑based assays within integrated workflows.
• Experience quantifying and mitigating chemical carry‑over, inhibitory species, or cross‑contamination in complex, multi‑stage processing systems.
• Familiarity with biosafety practices and sterile technique for handling human‑derived or high‑pathogen environmental samples.
• Evidence of innovation and technical leadership in early‑stage technology development (e.g. patents, publications, translational research contributions, or commercial product development).

Team Working and Project Management:

• Ability to define experimental workstreams, set measurable technical objectives, and deliver clear outputs aligned with programme milestones.
• Experience communicating quantitative and mechanistic findings in a manner that informs engineering and architectural decisions.
• Demonstrated cross‑disciplinary collaboration across biology, chemistry, engineering, data science, or related fields.

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving mindset with a disciplined, evidence‑led experimental approach.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Ability to prioritise work based on impact, manage multiple parallel investigations, and operate effectively in a rapidly evolving research environment.

Benefits:

• Salary: Competitive + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme

Working Together - What It Involves:

You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis. For this role we would expect someone to fully be on site in Oxford. You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).