Illumina, Inc.
Field Applications Scientist (Southeast) (Finance)
Position Summary:
The Field Applications Scientist position is responsible for enabling customer success within their territory. The successful applicant will be part of an award-winning customer support team that leads the industry in customer satisfaction. The Field Applications Scientist partners with customers to provide technical training, troubleshooting, and complaint resolution. This position serves as a scientific consultant during pre- and post-sales activities and will collaborate with broader commercial team to maximize sales growth and customer satisfaction.
This role requires troubleshooting, communication, time management, situational awareness, poise under pressure, and collaboration. You will be expected to build and maintain strong relationships across territory Service and Support teams, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, and Quality organizations.
Responsibilities:
Coordinate new installations, including facility inspections and instrument validation.
Answer questions on customer lab and experimental design, workflow best practices, and data storage and analysis.
Conduct on-site customer trainings on cornerstone Illumina microarray, Next-Generation Sequencing, library preparation, bioinformatics, consumables, or related products.
Troubleshoot customer complaints related to biochemistry, assay or experimental design, software, instruments, or user's technical skill. Escalate to appropriate internal resources as necessary to maximize customer uptime and minimize customer effort.
Regularly communicate essential technical product updates to external customers and Sales counterparts to drive customer success.
Partner with other functional roles and teammates under the Illumina team selling model that includes various specialist roles, (key) account managers, district sales managers, and Inside Sales to execute on and assist with the development of strategic plans for winning new business and expanding current customer growth and success through consulting, presentations, workshops, demonstrations, and seminars.
Contributes to customer relationship management, understanding customer goals, setting appropriate product and performance expectations, and gathering intelligence regarding competitive intel and new sales opportunities.
Support new product development through alpha and beta tests.
Knowledge of competitor activities and innovations within the marketplace.
Provide efficient communication on strategic and competitive customer feedback to Sales, Marketing, and product development teams.
Participate on departmental project teams; work collaboratively to execute project plans.
Prioritize tasks and responsibilities to achieve departmental key performance metrics.
Represent the company professionally, ethically, and morally at all times.
Listed responsibilities are an essential, but not exhaustive list, of the usual duties associated with the position. Changes to individual responsibilities may occur due to business needs.
Requirements:
3+ years biotech experience preferred.
Knowledge of genomics, sequencing applications, and methods that apply to Illumina technology.
Prior field experience supporting customers in a highly technical field helpful.
Demonstrated understanding of commonly-used Genotyping data analysis software applications and Bioinformatics tools and programs helpful.
Proficient with general lab best practices and common Molecular Biology techniques.
Experience with lab or liquid handling automation helpful.
Capacity to interact with principal investigator-level scientists as well as bioinformaticians and laboratory personnel.
Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues.
Strong written and verbal communication and superior presentation and training skills.
Ability to operate as an independent contributor and as a cooperative member of a team.
Commitment to providing outstanding customer service.
Ability to successfully operate in a fast paced, rapidly changing environment.
Capacity to maintain composure in stressful situations.
Must be willing to travel up to 50%.
All listed requirements are deemed as essential functions to this position; however, business conditions may require reasonable accommodations for additional task and responsibilities
Experience/Education:
Typically requires a Master's degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, or related field and 5+ years of experience; or a PhD; or equivalent work experience.