Assay Development Scientist

Title: Part Time Remote Assay Development Scientist

Location: Cranbury, New Jersey, USA

Category Laboratory & Sciences

50 USD - 60 USD/hour

Job Description:

Join a fast-growing medical device company dedicated to advancing point-of-care diagnostic platforms for decentralized clinical testing. Our innovative technologies integrate microfluidics, precision instrumentation, imaging, automation, and scalable manufacturing to deliver accessible, high-quality diagnostics worldwide. We are expanding our U.S.-based assay development capabilities and advancing next-generation diagnostic platforms from feasibility to commercialization.

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and troubleshoot biochemical and clinical chemistry assays for point-of-care in vitro diagnostic platforms.
• Support assay development on Lab-on-Spin-Disk, Lab-on-Disk, centrifugal microfluidic, or equivalent cartridge/analyzer-based systems.
• Design and optimize reagent formulations, including enzyme systems, buffers, calibrators, stabilizers, surfactants, preservatives, and dry reagent formats.
• Develop or improve lyophilized reagent bead formulations suitable for product integration and manufacturing transfer.
• Evaluate assay performance, including precision, accuracy, linearity, sensitivity, specificity, reportable range, interference, and matrix effects.
• Conduct method comparison studies against reference analyzers or established clinical chemistry systems.
• Support real-time and accelerated stability studies for liquid, dried, and lyophilized reagent formats.
• Troubleshoot assay performance issues related to reagent chemistry, sample matrix, disk/cartridge design, fluidics, optical detection, and instrumentation.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, instrumentation, software, manufacturing, QA/QC, and regulatory teams to ensure assay-platform compatibility.
• Provide technical guidance to accelerate assay development from feasibility to product-ready design.
• Support transfer of assays from R&D to manufacturing and quality control.

Essential Skills

• Hands-on experience with Lab-on-Spin-Disk or similar centrifugal microfluidic IVD chemistry diagnostic platforms.
• Strong knowledge in clinical chemistry/biochemistry assay development, particularly enzymatic, colorimetric, or spectrophotometric assays.
• Experience developing lyophilized reagent beads or dry/stabilized reagent formats.
• PhD in Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Clinical Chemistry, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field; or MS/BS with significant relevant industry experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on IVD assay development experience, preferably in POC diagnostics or analyzer-based systems.
• Solid understanding of enzymatic assays, colorimetric/spectrophotometric assays, clinical chemistry principles, and reagent formulation.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Direct experience with Lab-on-Spin-Disk, Lab-on-Disk, or similar POC diagnostic platforms.
• Experience developing multi-analyte clinical chemistry panels.
• Experience with dry chemistry, lyophilized reagent beads, reagent stabilization, or dry reagent manufacturing for IVD applications.
• Experience with clinical chemistry panels such as glucose, albumin, creatinine, lipid panel, metabolic panel, electrolyte panel, liver panel, AST, ALT, and related assays.
• Experience with product commercialization, design transfer, or regulatory submissions for IVD products.
• Familiarity with statistical tools for assay evaluation, including regression analysis, correlation studies, and precision studies.

Work Environment

The work environment includes a standard office setting as well as laboratory and manufacturing production environments. Training in controlled clean environments is necessary due to exposure to potentially hazardous materials and equipment. Appropriate gowning and safety rules apply, including the use of lab coats, safety glasses, and gloves. Reasonable accommodations are provided to support individuals with disabilities. The company maintains a commitment to equal opportunity employment.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Cranbury, NJ.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $50.00 - $60.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:
• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully remote position.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.