Scientist, Study Director: Life Technologies

Making Life Even Better.
When it comes to the vision of shaping discovery and improving life, no other company can match the breadth of products and services in the life sciences field to meet this vision than Life Technologies. Created through the combination of biotechnology leaders Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen, Life Technologies’ systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific exploration, driving to discoveries and developments that improve the human condition and the world around us. Our customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance personalized medicine, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. With historical sales of approximately $3.5 billion, a presence in more than 100 countries, and a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of over 3,600 patents and exclusive licenses, we are poised to truly shape the world of science. Join a team of more than 9,500 employees around the world who are engaged, curious, insightful, responsible and driven to make life even better.

Job Code RD13US Scientist

Position Title Scientist - Study Director

Job Description

Position Objective:

Support the development of, and manage custom services opportunities in support of the assigned business segment of Invitrogen, to ensure growth of the services business. The incumbent in this position must be capable of establishing a credible consultative relationship with potential customers in order to generate business within each SBU. A Study Director works to identify and understand a client's study needs and formulates a technical approach which provides a solution that satisfies those needs. This includes identifying problems which may not have an obvious technical solution and defining a scientific approach using basic principles in a sound and innovative manner to obtain a cost‑effective solution. In addition, a Study Director is involved in the scientific growth of the company and must be able to coordinate studies which support scalable growth. The incumbent must be able to independently coordinate the work of others, as well as their own, to ensure that budget and time constraints are met. The Study Director must coordinate studies and anticipate problems before they occur and affect whatever solutions are necessary to ensure that a quality service is provided.

Essential Functions:

The Study Director is a part of a global services team of Technical Project Managers referred to as the Project Management Office (PMO). Members of this team serve as a single point of contact (to customers) and are responsible for ensuring that all potential services opportunities flow smoothly into and through the service delivery process, within each SBU, leveraging enterprise practices and processes.

In addition to demonstrating a basic understanding of scientific principles, a Study Director is aligned to a particular business segment or a particular services area, and is responsible for project managing each assigned services opportunity. This includes the following responsibilities:

• Integration with Product Development, Business Management and Sales/Account Management resources on Services positioning and opportunity development.
• Development of Custom Services project requirements, including the suggestion of alternative scientific methods and approaches (including deliverables and customer-provided input).
• Coordination and/or development of services proposals and quotes.
• Engaging and directing Operations/R&D support for a services initiative, as required.
• Current, accurate and complete tracking of all assigned services opportunities.
• Customer, Product Management and Account Management (Sales force) communication regarding progress, issues, etc.
• Assessment and continuous improvement of local processes, practices etc to enable scalable growth aligned to enterprise thinking.
• Escalation of issues and concerns to appropriate leadership.
• May be required to perform other related duties as required and/or assigned.

Core Competencies / Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

The position exercises scientific and business judgment within broadly defined practices and policies to arrive at approaches, plans and schedules to drive success. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following skills:

• Ability to work in a reasonably autonomous fashion, within a matrix environment, supporting the business segment through enterprise processes.
• Ability to provide credible scientific counsel to customers and account managers, and understand and communicate tradeoffs associated with alternative methods.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Develop technically and scientifically sound and (as appropriate) innovative approaches to solving problems and isolate opportunities for process improvement.
• Strong collaborative and team-oriented approach.
• Ability to assess and report on project profitability.
• Provide education and guidance to customers on the use of in vitro systems to assess drug interactions and drug metabolism.
• Define logical scientifically-sound follow-up work to the projects in which they are involved.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills including both verbal and written forms.
• Communicates effectively with supervisor to ensure expectations, progress, and results are clearly understood.

Education:

Requires an M.S./Ph.D. in Pharmacology/Pharmacokinetics or a closely related field.

Experience:

M.S.: At least three years of laboratory experience outside of a classroom setting in drug metabolism or a closely related field is required.

Ph.D.: A degree in Pharmacology/Pharmacokinetics or post-graduate work with an emphasis on ADME is required.

Communication Skills:

Written: Sufficient ability to clearly present written information and findings.

Verbal: Ability to present complex scientific concepts.

Contacts:

The Study Director has contact with internal and external customers and serves on cross-functional teams to provide expertise and to represent customer perspective and needs.

Essential Functions -- Physical Job Requirements, Machines, Software Applications and/or Equipment Used:

• PC literate; MS Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) with strong Excel skills.
• Standard office equipment (personal computer, photocopy machine, fax machine, etc.).
• Regularly required to sit for long periods of time, and occasionally stand and walk.
• Regularly uses hands to operate computer and other office equipment.
• Close vision required for computer usage.
• Occasionally required to stoop, kneel, climb, and lift up to 25 pounds.

Unique Working Conditions:

Works in an office, laboratory, or storage warehouse with adequate temperature and lighting. Is routinely exposed to potentially biohazardous materials (plasma, urine, blood, feces, etc.) and unpleasant odors from solvents and other chemicals.