Scientist (NGS Apps Sustainment & Support)
Volta Labs
Customer Service
Boston, MA, USA
USD 90k-115k / year + Equity
We’re looking for a Scientist (NGS Apps Sustainment & Support) to own the performance, reliability, and continuous improvement of NGS workflows on Callisto. This is a hands-on, high-impact role at the intersection of molecular biology, biochemistry, engineering, and automation with strong emphasis on application performance, field reliability, and data-driven iteration.
You’ll work closely with Systems Integration, R&D, Software, Manufacturing, and customer support teams to ensure that production workflows are robust, reproducible, and continuously improving based on real-world usage. You will play a key role in closing the loop between customer deployments and internal development by translating field insights into actionable improvements.
Day 1 to Year 1
Own the performance and reliability of deployed NGS Apps, including workflows involving enzymatic fragmentation, hybrid capture, size selection, and PCR-free protocols, with clearly defined performance metrics.
Analyze run logs, QC outputs, and workflow metrics to identify trends and failure modes.
Troubleshoot biological QC deviations, size distribution discrepancies, and regional coverage biases as well as systemic workflow failures arising from software configuration, hardware behavior, or workflow logic.
Contribute to standardization across Apps and help shape a unified architecture for workflow design including monitoring, logging, and performance tracking standards.
Analyze App performance in real-world deployments to proactively identify regressions, reliability gaps, and systemic issues.
Build monitoring dashboards, summaries, and presentations to communicate workflow performance to cross-functional stakeholders and leadership.
Within 3 months you’ll…
Ramp up on Callisto architecture, assay modules, and workflow constraints. Learn cross-functional processes including requirements gathering, kit development, deployment, and support. Begin taking ownership of selected Apps by monitoring performance, investigating early issues, and designing targeted experiments to improve robustness.
Within 6 months you’ll…
Independently own the performance and sustainment of two or more NGS Apps in production. Troubleshoot workflow biochemistry (eg. fragment size variability, GC bias, AT/GC dropouts, bead handling issues) and broader system-level failures spanning biology, software, and hardware. Drive improvements to workflows through YAML-based updates, data analysis, and close collaboration with engineering and field teams.
Within 12 months you’ll…
Lead sustained improvements across multiple Apps, proactively identifying reliability gaps and driving initiatives to enhance performance at scale. Contribute to roadmap discussions by bringing insights from field performance and customer usage. Support the introduction of new features or workflow enhancements where they improve robustness, scalability, and user experience.
Who You Are
- Master’s + 4 years OR PhD + 1 year in Bioengineering, Biochemistry, or related field.
- Strong hands-on experience with molecular workflows; NGS library prep experience strongly preferred with experience across multiple NGS workflows (e.g., WGS, targeted panels, RNA-seq, amplicon workflows) considered a plus.
- Skilled in experimental design, assay optimization, and troubleshooting complex molecular systems with demonstrated experience performing structured root-cause and failure mode analysis.
- Familiarity with automated liquid handling or integrated systems.
- Experience with Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, PacBio, or similar sequencing platforms.
- Proficient in Python, R or similar languages for data analysis and workflow scripting and capable of building monitoring tools, dashboards, and performance visualizations.
- Effective communicator and collaborator across R&D, automation, software, and manufacturing teams.
- Excellent documentation habits; comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment and presenting performance findings clearly using data visualization and structured reporting.
- Deep NGS library prep specialization.
- Git/version control familiarity.
- Exposure to manufacturing transfer or high-scale assay development.
- Openness to leveraging LLMs for workflow development and analysis acceleration.
90000 - 115000 USD a year