Sr. Technical Application Specialist - Cryo-EM Sample Prep

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer.

As a Technical Applications Specialist for Cryo-EM Sample Preparation you will play a key role in shaping and advancing next-generation cryo-EM sample preparation technologies and workflows. This position bridges market strategy, early-stage technology development, and productization by translating customer and workflow needs into system-level requirements and guiding the development of solutions that improve sample quality, throughput, reproducibility, and overall workflow success. Success in this role requires deep technical expertise in cryo-EM sample preparation, strong systems-level thinking, and the ability to collaborate effectively across Product Marketing, R&D, and external academic and industrial partners.
 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Partner with Product Marketing, Advanced Technologies, R&D, and cross-functional product development teams to define, develop, and productize novel cryo-EM sample preparation technologies aligned with market and customer needs.
• Translate Market Requirements into system-level requirements, technical specifications, architecture considerations, and system test strategies for new sample preparation products and workflows.
• Provide systems-level guidance on verification and validation strategy to ensure product concepts, prototypes, and design outputs can be assessed against defined market, system, and workflow requirements.
• Lead R&D activities for cryo-EM sample preparation strategy, including concept development, feasibility testing, prototype evaluation, risk assessment, and design iteration.
• Develop and implement quantitative performance metrics to assess the impact of sample preparation technologies on workflow throughput, success rate, sample quality, yield, reproducibility, and overall user experience.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and concepts from the Advanced Technologies group and support their transition from prototype stage into product development through technical assessment, systems design input, and productization planning.
• Conduct Technology Readiness Level (TRL) assessments and provide recommendations on technical maturity, development gaps, risks, and next steps for new sample preparation technologies.
• Support the identification, initiation, and management of strategic collaborations with academic institutions, industrial partners, and key opinion leaders to advance innovation in cryo-EM sample preparation.
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert in cryo-EM sample preparation, providing guidance to internal teams on workflow requirements, technology trade-offs, experimental design, and customer-relevant performance criteria.

REQUIREMENTS:

• MS or Ph.D. in Life Sciences, Biochemistry, Structural Biology, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in cryo-EM sample preparation for single particle analysis workflows is required; experience with cryo-electron tomography workflows is preferred.
• Strong understanding of cryo-EM workflows, including sample preparation challenges, grid preparation, vitrification, sample quality assessment, and factors affecting downstream data collection and reconstruction.
• Experience translating customer, market, or workflow needs into technical requirements, system requirements, test plans, or product development inputs.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate early-stage technologies, perform feasibility studies, assess technical risk, and support transition from concept or prototype to product development.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams, including R&D, product management, marketing, applications, engineering, and external partners.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders and represent complex sample preparation concepts clearly.
• Experience managing academic or industrial collaborations is preferred.
• Familiarity with Technology Readiness Level assessments, design controls, systems engineering practices, or regulated product development environments is preferred.

BENEFITS:

We offer competitive remuneration, annual incentive plan bonus, and a range of employee benefits an employment with an innovative, forward-thinking organization, and outstanding career and development prospects.