Principal Scientist, Bioanalytical & Molecular Assays

Location: Oxford, England; based at hirify.global’s Harwell site with a 70/30 in-office work model

Company

hirify.global develops mRNA medicines and technologies to advance treatments and transform medicine.

What you will do

• Lead the design, development, optimization, validation, and deployment of molecular assays supporting clinical endpoints.
• Develop RT-qPCR, dPCR, and NGS assays for gene expression, viral load, mRNA pharmacokinetics, RNA sequencing, immune repertoire profiling, targeted DNA panels, and pathogen sequencing.
• Own assay lifecycle activities, including method development, qualification, validation, clinical sample testing, reporting, and technology transfer to internal laboratories and CRO partners.
• Prepare and review validation plans, protocols, reports, acceptance criteria, and technical documentation in accordance with GCLP requirements.
• Lead deviation investigations, CAPA activities, quality oversight, inspection readiness, and audit preparedness.
• Provide scientific leadership across multidisciplinary teams and translate molecular and genomic data into actionable clinical development recommendations.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Genomics, or a related field with 9+ years of biotech or pharmaceutical experience, or an M.S. with 12+ years of directly relevant experience.
• Hands-on experience developing and validating clinical qPCR, dPCR, and NGS assays across the full workflow from method development through reporting.
• Knowledge of GCLP/GLP, GxP, MHRA, and ICH expectations, phase-appropriate clinical validation, and inspection readiness.
• Experience with library preparation, nucleic acid extraction from diverse matrices, and orthogonal QC using Bioanalyzer, TapeStation, qPCR, or dPCR.
• Track record of building and validating bioinformatics pipelines.
• Experience integrating genomics data and instrumentation with LIMS/ELN, data governance, and secure clinical data handling.

Culture & Benefits

• In-person collaboration supported by a 70/30 in-office work model.
• Healthcare coverage and voluntary benefit programs.
• Fitness, mindfulness, and mental health resources.
• Family-building support, including fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits.
• Paid vacation, bank holidays, volunteer days, sabbatical, global recharge days, and discretionary year-end shutdown.
• Savings and investment programs plus location-specific benefits.