GCS Molecular Labs Senior Specialist
At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.
The Position
A healthier future. It’s what drives us to innovate. To continuously advance science and ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need today and for generations to come.
Creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love.
That’s what makes us Roche.
The Opportunity
Roche Diagnostics is seeking a GCS Molecular Labs Senior Specialist to join our team in either Cape Town, South Africa or St Cugat, Spain. As a GCS Molecular Labs Senior Specialist, you will be the technical linchpin for our most advanced diagnostic ecosystems. This is a high-impact role requiring a blend of hardware knowledge, complex networking expertise, and software systems integration. You will contribute the support efforts for the SBX sequencing platform, Avenio Connect, and our NIPT (AcfS) solutions, ensuring that the intersection of biology and digital infrastructure remains seamless and secure.
Key Challenges
1. Provide Technical Support: SBX & Avenio Connect
SBX Infrastructure: Support the IT/Network efforts for the Roche AXELIOS platform for EMEA timezone. This includes optimizing high-speed data pathways from bandwidth, to compute clusters, storage and troubleshooting data bottlenecks.
Connectivity Excellence: Oversee Avenio Connect integrations. You aren't just fixing connections; you are architecting how our instruments talk to the Cloud and LIMS, ensuring security certificates and firewall rules align with global standards.
2. Integrated NIPT (AcfS) Management
Hybrid HW/SW Support: Manage the AcfS (Ariosa cell-free DNA System), specifically focusing on the partner Hardware
System Validation: Support the deployment and validation of HW/SW updates for NIPT on PCR and digital LC system
3. Advanced Network Operations
Design and troubleshoot complex network topologies (VLANs, VPNs, and SD-WAN) within high-output clinical environments.
Serve as the Tier-2 escalation point for regional field teams, providing deep-dive analysis into packet loss, latency issues, and system crashes.
4. Troubleshooting, Documentation and Training
Provide level 2/3 customer troubleshooting competence
Prepare the user documentation, offline and e-training materials to service affiliates and customers
Deliver the training if needed
Who You Are as an Ideal Candidate
Qualifications & Experience
Minimum Requirements:
Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Network Engineering, Electronic Engineering or a related field.
Experience: 7+ years of experience in IT/Networking and Hardware support. You should have a proven track record of managing complex, integrated systems in a regulated environment.
Travel: Up to 30% travel for site audits, installations, or cross-regional collaboration
Technical Stack: Expertise in Linux/Windows system administration.
Advanced Networking (CCNP level preferred): Firewalls, Routing/Switching, and Security Protocols.
Experience with Hardware-to-Software interfacing (Sensors, PLC, or proprietary lab HW).
Soft Skills
Crisis Management: The ability to remain calm and methodical when a high-throughput lab goes offline.
Global Collaborator: You’re comfortable working across time zones, whether it's syncing with R&D in US and EMEA, and GCS colleagues
Mentorship: As a Senior Engineer, you are expected to level up the junior staff through documentation and knowledge-sharing.
Other considerations
Bioinformatics (BFX): Understanding of NGS pipelines, data storage (NAS/SAN), and bioinformatics file formats (FASTQ, VCF). If you can speak "Bioinformatics" to a scientist and "Networking" to an IT Director, you are our ideal candidate.
Cloud Proficiency: Experience with AWS/Google hybrid-cloud deployments for diagnostic data.
Travel: Ability to move freely within the Schengen area for project-based work is highly desirable for this role.
Impact: You are not just "fixing computers"—you are ensuring that Sequencing results reach families and sequencing data reaches researchers on time.
Why This Role?
You'll take ownership of high-impact projects in a collaborative environment where your expertise directly shapes our molecular diagnostics capabilities. You'll work alongside talented scientists and specialists who are passionate about innovation, with access to cutting-edge technology and the support to grow your technical and leadership skills. At Roche, we believe in empowering our people—expect competitive compensation, flexible working arrangements, and genuine career progression. Whether you're driving discovery, mentoring emerging talent, or solving complex technical challenges, you'll find purpose in work that improves patient outcomes globally.
Where pay transparency applies, details are provided based on the primary posting location. For this role, the primary location is Cape Town. If you are interested in additional locations where the role may be available, we will provide the relevant compensation details later in the hiring process.
Who we are
A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.
Let’s build a healthier future, together.
Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
