Field Application Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

As a Field Application Specialist (FAS), you are the scientific and technical backbone of our customer-facing team. You will be the primary expert on our cutting-edge instrumentation and assays, acting as a trusted advisor to researchers, clinicians, and scientists. This pivotal role involves providing comprehensive pre-sales technical consultation and product demonstrations, as well as post-sales installation, training, troubleshooting, and application support. You are responsible for building strong customer relationships, ensuring their success, and channeling valuable market insights back to our internal R&D, Marketing, and Sales teams. This position requires extensive travel and the ability to work independently to solve complex scientific and technical challenges in a dynamic environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

PhD or Postdoctoral Researcher
Senior Research Scientist / Lab Manager
Senior Technical Support Specialist
R&D Scientist in an industry setting

Advancement To:

Senior or Principal Field Application Specialist
Field Application Manager / Director of Field Applications
Product Manager or Product Marketing Manager
Key Account Manager or Technical Sales Specialist

Lateral Moves:

Corporate Trainer
Technical Writer (Application Notes & Protocols)
Marketing Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Deliver expert-level, on-site installation, operational qualification (OQ), and performance qualification (PQ) for complex scientific instrumentation.
Provide comprehensive and customized training to a diverse range of users, from novice to expert, on instrument operation, software, assay protocols, and data analysis.
Serve as the primary point of contact for advanced post-sales technical and application support, troubleshooting and resolving complex issues both remotely and at customer sites.
Partner with the commercial sales team during the pre-sales process to provide technical consultations, strategic product demonstrations, and workflow optimization guidance.
Act as a trusted technical advisor, building and maintaining strong, long-term relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and customers within the assigned territory.
Independently manage and resolve customer escalations by coordinating with internal resources, including R&D, Engineering, and Tier II Technical Support.
Assist customers with experimental design, application development, and data interpretation to ensure they achieve their scientific and operational goals.
Represent the company at national and international conferences, trade shows, and workshops, delivering technical presentations, poster sessions, and booth support.
Proactively gather, synthesize, and report customer feedback and competitive intelligence to inform product improvement, new product development, and strategic marketing.
Author and maintain high-quality technical documentation, including application notes, training materials, user guides, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Maintain a superior level of knowledge on the company's full product portfolio, underlying scientific principles, and the competitive landscape.
Meticulously document all customer interactions, support activities, and site visit outcomes within the designated CRM system (e.g., Salesforce).
Manage a demanding travel schedule (typically 50-75%) to efficiently cover a large geographic territory and respond to customer needs in a timely manner.
Collaborate with Product Management and R&D teams to support New Product Introductions (NPI), including alpha/beta testing at customer sites.
Conduct advanced customer workshops and seminars to drive deeper adoption and proficiency with our technology platforms.
Identify and cultivate potential sales opportunities or expansions that arise from technical support interactions and customer relationships.
Maintain and manage assigned demonstration instrumentation, ensuring it is calibrated, updated, and ready for all customer-facing activities.
Provide proactive follow-up with customers post-installation and training to ensure satisfaction, successful implementation, and continued use of the platform.
Develop and share best practices, troubleshooting insights, and application knowledge with the global Field Application Specialist team.
Offer scientific and technical expertise during the creation of sales and marketing collateral to ensure accuracy and impact.

Secondary Functions

Contribute to the internal knowledge base and technical support documentation, helping to scale support resources.
Participate in regular team meetings to share field experiences, strategic insights, and territory-specific challenges.
Collaborate with the marketing team to develop content for case studies, webinars, and white papers based on customer success stories.
Assist the training department in developing and refining internal training programs for new commercial and support hires.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep, hands-on expertise in relevant scientific techniques (e.g., NGS, qPCR, Flow Cytometry, Mass Spectrometry, Proteomics, Genomics).
Proven ability to troubleshoot, repair, and qualify complex scientific instruments and software systems.
Strong proficiency in data analysis and interpretation using relevant software packages.
Experience with experimental design, assay development, and workflow optimization.
Familiarity with CRM software (e.g., Salesforce) for logging customer activity.
Knowledge of laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and their integration points.

Soft Skills

Exceptional interpersonal and customer-facing communication skills, with an ability to build rapport and trust quickly.
Superior presentation and teaching skills, capable of conveying complex technical information to audiences of all levels.
Advanced analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a calm and logical approach to high-pressure situations.
High degree of self-motivation, independence, and the ability to work effectively with minimal supervision.
Excellent time management and organizational skills to manage a complex travel schedule and competing priorities.
A strong sense of empathy and a genuine passion for helping customers succeed.
Collaborative, team-oriented mindset with a willingness to share knowledge and support colleagues.
Adaptability and resilience to handle frequent travel and a dynamic, ever-changing work environment.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in a relevant scientific discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master of Science (M.S.) or Doctorate (Ph.D.) is highly preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Molecular Biology
Genetics or Genomics
Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Biomedical Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3-7 years of relevant experience. For Ph.D. candidates, 2+ years of postdoctoral or industry lab experience is typical. For B.S./M.S. candidates, 5+ years of hands-on laboratory or related industry experience is expected.

Preferred:

Direct, hands-on experience with the specific technology or instrumentation relevant to the company's product line.
Prior experience in a customer-facing technical role (e.g., Field Applications, Technical Support) is a significant advantage.
Experience working in a regulated environment (e.g., CLIA, CAP, FDA) is a plus for diagnostic-focused roles.