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The Director of Applications leads Bio-Techne's Spatial Biology Applications organization, overseeing a team of Applications Scientists responsible for generating the scientific data, application insights, and technical content that demonstrate the value of the company's spatial biology technologies. Reporting to the Vice President of R&D, this role sets the applications strategy and roadmap for the Spatial Biology portfolio, ensuring alignment with customer needs, product priorities, emerging scientific opportunities, and business objectives.

As the leader of the Applications function, the Director partners closely with Product Management, Applications Marketing, Product Marketing, R&D, and Commercial teams to translate scientific capabilities into compelling, customer-relevant application stories. This role combines scientific leadership, organizational development, external engagement, and cross-functional influence to drive application innovation, support commercialization efforts, and strengthen Bio-Techne's position as a leader in spatial biology and translational science.

Responsibilities

Applications Strategy & Scientific Leadership

• Define and execute the global applications strategy and roadmap for the Spatial Biology portfolio, ensuring alignment with product strategy, customer needs, emerging scientific trends, and commercial objectives.

• Identify and prioritize high-value application opportunities that drive technology adoption, portfolio differentiation, and long-term business growth.

• Guide the development, validation, and expansion of applications supporting RNAscope, Comet, and future spatial biology technologies.

• Establish application development priorities and success metrics that maximize scientific and commercial impact.

• Drive the generation of high-quality application data that demonstrates product performance and supports adoption across key research and translational workflows.

• Serve as the organization's scientific authority on application development and the use of spatial biology technologies.

Organizational Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of Applications Scientists and scientific leaders across multiple global locations.

• Build organizational capabilities, succession plans, and talent development strategies that support long-term growth and scalability.

• Establish clear goals, priorities, and accountability mechanisms to ensure effective execution and continuous improvement.

• Foster a culture of scientific excellence, innovation, collaboration, and customer focus.

• Evaluate organizational structure and resource allocation to support evolving portfolio and business needs.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with Product Management to shape application strategies that support product lifecycle planning, roadmap decisions, and portfolio investments.

• Collaborate with Applications Marketing and Product Marketing to ensure scientific findings are translated into compelling application stories, customer content, and commercialization tools.

• Work closely with R&D to align application development activities with technology development and product innovation initiatives.

• Provide scientific and strategic guidance to Commercial teams on customer applications, emerging opportunities, and competitive positioning.

• Influence cross-functional decision-making and represent application priorities within portfolio planning and business leadership discussions.

External Scientific Engagement

• Establish and maintain relationships with key opinion leaders, academic institutions, translational research centers, and strategic partners.

• Identify and secure access to critical collaborators, specimens, models, and scientific resources that enable application development.

• Represent Bio-Techne at conferences, scientific meetings, advisory boards, and industry events.

• Drive publication, presentation, and collaboration strategies that elevate Bio-Techne's scientific visibility and credibility.

• Build awareness of the value of spatial biology and advocate for emerging applications across the scientific community.

Operational Excellence

• Establish scalable processes and best practices for application prioritization, experimental design, data generation, knowledge management, and content development.

• Oversee planning, resource allocation, and execution across the Applications organization to ensure delivery against strategic objectives.

• Monitor portfolio performance, application development progress, and organizational effectiveness through defined KPIs and operational metrics.

• Continuously evaluate scientific, market, and competitive developments to inform strategic planning and investment decisions.

Qualifications

Education

• Advanced scientific training in a relevant life sciences discipline or equivalent combination of education and industry experience. PhD in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Immunology, Oncology, Pathology, Neuroscience, Bioinformatics, Spatial Biology, or a related scientific field preferred.

Experience

• 8-10 years of progressive experience in life sciences, molecular biology, translational research, pathology, imaging, spatial biology, assay development, or related scientific disciplines.

• Up to 5 years of experience leading scientific, applications, or translational research teams.

• Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing scientific organizations.

• Experience defining and executing scientific strategies that support product adoption, business growth, and customer success.

• Experience managing complex cross-functional programs and influencing decisions across multiple stakeholders and functions.

Preferred

• Experience leading geographically distributed or global teams.

• Experience supporting commercialization of life sciences tools, molecular diagnostics, or research technologies.

• Experience working with spatial biology, tissue analysis, molecular imaging, or biomarker development technologies.

• Experience establishing scientific collaborations and managing external research partnerships.

Skills & Abilities

• Strategic leadership and organizational development.

• Applications roadmap development and portfolio prioritization.

• Experimental design, assay development, and data interpretation.

• Strong business acumen and understanding of technology commercialization.

• Resource planning, organizational effectiveness, and operational excellence.

• Exceptional communication and scientific storytelling skills.

• Ability to influence senior leaders and drive alignment across complex organizations.

• Strong external engagement and relationship-building capabilities.

• Leadership Characteristics

• Visionary and strategic thinker.

• Highly collaborative and influential leader.

• Strong scientific credibility and intellectual curiosity.

• Results-oriented with a focus on execution and accountability.

• Customer-focused and externally engaged.

• Passionate advocate for spatial biology and translational science.

Working Conditions

• Combination of office, laboratory, and conference environments.
• Domestic and international travel up to 30-40%.
• Frequent interaction with customers, collaborators, and scientific leaders.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work in office and laboratory environments.
• Ability to travel via commercial airline.
• Ability to sit, stand, and walk for extended periods.
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds as needed.