Job DescriptionPrincipal Oligonucleotide ChemistCompany: LGC Biosearch Technologies
Location: 2100 South McDowell, Petaluma, CA 94952
Type: Full-time
Position SummaryThe Principal Oligonucleotide Chemist is a senior scientific leader responsible for driving oligonucleotide product development, synthesis, process development, and innovation across the Innovation Hub, operations, and customer-facing programs. This role blends hands-on laboratory execution with strategic experimental design, data-driven development, project leadership, and mentorship of scientists to deliver new products.
You will serve as the technical lead for
OligonucleotideNew Product Development (NPD), and
Customer co-creation product projects, designing new manufacturing methods, troubleshooting complex issues, supporting tech transfer, and presenting technical content to commercial teams and customers. This position plays a critical role in advancing LGC's oligonucleotide chemistry capabilities and new product offerings.
Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership in Oligonucleotide Chemistry, Project Execution and Delivery- Lead Petaluma Innovation Hub Oligo Chemistry Function by delivering customer co-creation and NPD products/projects from concept through delivery.
- Partner with peers and global team to deliver to customers and achieve Innovation Hub development and financial objectives.
- Serve as a technical lead for multi-site, multi-function development team for oligonucleotide synthesis, modification, deprotection, purification, and analytical characterization.
- Participate in evaluation of new technologies and oligonucleotide market strategy
- Oversee and Execute oligo synthesis projects, including experimental design/planning, prioritization, and resource coordination.
- Deliver and control new methods, workflows, and manufacturing protocols for oligonucleotide synthesis, purification and analysis. Support operations technically.
- Optimize, and define manufacturing instructions for low-yielding or impure processes.
Laboratory Execution & Product Manufacturing- Lead projects and staff hands-on in the lab by performing and training synthesis and purification of oligonucleotides using automated and manual techniques.
- Conduct analytical characterization (LC-MS, HPLC, CE, UV-Vis) to confirm identity, purity, and impurity profiles.
- Troubleshoot synthetic routes, instrument performance, and purification workflows and analytics to ensure consistent, high-quality output.
- Develop and refine synthetic routes, synthesis method refinement, coupling conditions, deprotection strategies and purification methods.
Experimental Design, Data Analysis & Development Strategy- Design rigorous, data-driven experiments to optimize yield, purity, scalability (up and down), and process robustness.
- Use mechanistic understanding and statistical analysis to adjust development plans and guide next-step decision-making.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts by designing investigation maps and structured experimental plans.
- Document experimental results, conclusions, and recommendations by industry standard technical summary reports and within quality certification requirements.
Customer Co-Creation & Technical Communication- Successfully lead and deliver oligonucleotide customer co-creation and NPD projects.
- Participate in technical customer calls related to custom oligo manufacturing, product investigations, and development updates.
- Present technical content to commercial teams and customers, including data reviews, capability overviews, and project progress.
Operations Support, Tech Transfer & Continuous Improvement- Provide technical support to Operations for process optimization, scale-up, and continual improvement.
- Lead the successful transfer of custom product methods and procedures into MSAT and Operations teams.
- Develop effective tech transfer plans and verify training for newly developed processes.
- Deliver method validation in alignment with Quality department requirements.
- Support troubleshooting and root-cause investigations for manufacturing challenges.
Mentorship & Team Development- Mentor and develop scientists in oligonucleotide chemistry; providing guidance in technical skills, experimental design, and professional development.
- Promote rigorous laboratory order and management, controlled documentation, and best practices in experimental execution.
- Foster a collaborative, trust building and growth-oriented environment that supports scientific excellence.
Technical Skills- Proven expertise in oligonucleotide chemistry.
- Demonstrated knowledge of solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis and modification.
- Skilled in analytical characterization of oligonucleotides, including impurity profiling.
- Demonstrated project management skills with experience leading matrixed teams through complex development projects.
Seasoned ability to design, optimize, and troubleshoot oligonucleotide manufacturing development processes
QualificationsQualifications- Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology, or related field inclusive of extensive experience in oligonucleotide chemistry.
- Minimum of 15 years of direct industry experience in oligonucleotide synthesis, product and process development, and tech transfer into manufacturing.
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical projects, mentor scientists, and collaborate cross-functionally.
- Excellent communication skills, including the ability to present complex technical content to internal and external audiences.
Additional InformationThe typical pay range for this role is:
Minimum: $ 131,155/ Annualy
Maximum: $196,733/ Anually
This range represents the low and high end of the anticipated salary range for the California -based position. The actual base salary will depend on several factors such as: experience, skills, and location.
