Analytical Assay Development Scientist

Oath is a leading microbial sciences company that utilizes natural soil biology to offer innovative solutions to some of the most critical challenges facing our planet - the climate crisis and the shift to sustainable agriculture. We imagine a world where these crises are not just alleviated, but reversed, replenishing Earth's microbiomes.

Our solution has moved beyond the lab and into real-world deployment, focused on improving farmer livelihoods with teams in Rwanda, Europe, the United States, and expanding. When you join Oath, you become part of a collaborative network that prioritizes high quality scientific work. You will be working alongside trained scientists, talented commercial teams, and a broad network of partners—an ecosystem designed to help you do your best work and grow your capabilities.

We are seeking an experienced Scientist to join our dynamic, fast-paced, and supportive R&D team as our primary Analytical Assay Development Scientist. In this role, you will develop fit-for-purpose, quantitative analytical assays for live microbial products — assays used across R&D, bioprocess development, and manufacturing  will guide the operationalization of these assays in-house and at contract research and manufacturing organizations (CROs and CMOs), helping bridge the gap between R&D breakthroughs and industrial-scale manufacturing of live microbial products that improve soil and plant health.

You will develop and validate rigorous assays to characterize microbial strains and products at every stage of their life cycle — from cultivation and fermentation, through drying, formulation, and blending, to storage and field application — measuring characteristics such as cell titers, sporulation efficiency, viability and vitality, shelf life, and colonization of the rhizosphere and plant tissues. Your work will directly inform how Oath cultivates, dries, formulates, blends, stores, and applies its microbial products, and how it understands their performance once released into the field.

Key Responsibilities

Assay Development & Validation

• Develop, optimize, validate, and execute quantitative analytical assays to evaluate microbial strain status and product quality throughout cultivation/fermentation, downstream processing (drying, formulation, blending), storage, and soil/seed application.
• Characterize the precision, accuracy, and scalability of methods for quantifying live microbial titer in single-strain and multi-strain formulations.
• Lead sample-preparation and assay optimization efforts using methods such as qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, amplicon sequencing, whole-genome sequencing (WGS), RNA-Seq, classical plate-count/CFU methods, and other microbiological and analytical techniques.

Colonization, Persistence & Field Performance

• Develop, validate, and oversee execution of colonization and persistence assays to assess microbial strain abundance and dynamics in the rhizosphere and on plant tissues.
• Support efforts to connect lab-scale assay results with real-world product performance after field application.

Technology Evaluation & Scientific Leadership

• Maintain deep expertise in the scientific and technological literature describing the advantages and limitations of product-relevant assay types, and bring forward emerging methods with potential to improve Oath's analytical capabilities.
• Deliver data-driven recommendations on assays, microbial strains, production methods, blending, formulation, shelf life, and application methods to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Engage as a key thought leader in the strategic development of Oath's R&D and process development platforms.

External Partner Coordination

• Identify, evaluate, and coordinate with CROs, collaborators, and service providers to support assay development and execution.
• Review external data packages and technical reports to ensure rigorous, high-quality execution consistent with Oath's standards.

Infrastructure & Documentation

• Implement sample tracking and automation solutions as needed.
• Help guide development of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS); thoroughly document sample tracking, processes, procedures, and operations.

Cross-Fu…