Applications & Support Scientist

About Axcend

Axcend is an early-stage life sciences company changing how scientists do high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Our patented capillary-flow implementation of HPLC delivers meaningful improvements in portability, ease of operation, and instrument sensitivity — using a fraction of the solvents, energy, and bench space of legacy systems. Our FocusLC® platform, with accessories like AutoFocus and InFocus, serves customers across pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical research, academic and government laboratories, environmental and food & beverage testing, and industrial chemicals — anywhere reliable, lab-quality chromatography is needed in the lab, in the hood, or in the field.

We value practical innovation, integrity, and a hands-on, collaborative culture where people own outcomes.

The Role

Axcend is hiring an Applications & Support Scientist to be the scientific face of our FocusLC® platform with customers, prospects, and the broader chromatography community. You'll develop methods, run demos, support customer onboarding, troubleshoot real-world applications, and represent Axcend at conferences and customer sites across our markets — pharma and biopharma, academic and government labs, environmental, food & beverage, and industrial chemicals.

The role sits at the intersection of science and commerce. You'll work hand-in-hand with our sales, engineering, and applications teams to make sure customers get publication-quality results from our instruments — and that our instruments keep getting better because of what you learn in the field.

This is a high-visibility, high-autonomy role for a curious analytical chemist who loves capillary-scale separations, enjoys talking science with other scientists, and can read a room well enough to support a sales conversation without overstepping it.

What You'll Do

• Develop and translate methods: Build, optimize, and translate methods on the Focus LC platform across diverse customer applications — small-molecule and biomolecule analysis, trace analysis in complex matrices, reaction and process monitoring, and quality control workflows — adapting conventional HPLC methods to the capillary scale to deliver lower solvent use, smaller sample volumes, and faster cycle times.
• Run customer-facing demos and proof-of-concept studies: Demonstrate Focus LC performance against the customer's real samples and existing methods, in their lab or ours.
• Support the sales process: Serve as the technical voice in the room — answer deep scientific questions during evaluations, frame Axcend's capabilities accurately and confidently, and know when to escalate commercial questions back to the sales lead.
• Onboard new customers: Install method packages, train customer scientists, and provide hands-on troubleshooting during the first weeks of operation.
• Provide ongoing applications support: Answer technical questions, troubleshoot challenging separations, and develop methods for new analytes as customers expand their usage.
• Create technical content: Application notes, posters, white papers, and case studies that communicate Focus LC capabilities to scientific audiences across our markets.
• Represent Axcend at conferences and industry events: Pittcon, HPLC, EAS, ASMS, and other meetings relevant to your accounts — present posters and talks, staff the booth, and build relationships with the chromatography community.
• Feed customer insights back to engineering and product: Translate field observations into prioritized product, firmware, and method improvements.
• Contribute to peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with academic, industrial, and customer partners.

What You'll Bring

Required

• Education: PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry, or a related field — or MS with 3+ years of industry experience in analytical instrumentation.
• HPLC depth: Hands-on method development experience with HPLC and LC-MS; comfort with reverse-phase and adjacent modes (e.g., ion-exchange, HILIC, normal-phase) appropriate to your application areas.
• Scientific communication: Demonstrated ability to present technical work clearly — through publications, conference presentations, posters, or technical reports.
• Customer-facing presence: Confidence and composure speaking with senior scientists, lab managers, and customer technical staff; able to handle tough technical questions without losing footing.
• Commercial awareness: Understanding of the boundary between technical conversation and commercial conversation — instinct for when to dig in scientifically and when to bring sales back into the loop.
• Curiosity and rigor: A researcher's mindset — you ask “why,” design experiments to answer it, and document your work in a way others can build on.
• Travel and location: Ability to travel approximately 50% both international and domestic. Must have reasonable proximity to a major U.S. airport.

Preferred

• Capillary or microflow LC experience: Direct hands-on work at the capillary scale is a major plus.
• Industry experience in any of our markets: Pharma, biopharma, academic research, government or forensic labs, environmental testing, food & beverage, or industrial chemicals.
• Method validation: Experience under ICH, USP, AOAC, EPA, or equivalent regulatory frameworks.
• Specialized techniques: 2D-LC, high-throughput screening, reaction monitoring, intact mass / peptide mapping, or trace-level quantitation in complex matrices.
• Data tools: Fluency with chromatography data systems (Empower, ChemStation, Chromeleon) and analytical scripting (Python, R) for data analysis.
• Published track record in chromatography or analytical chemistry.
• Network: Existing relationships in the chromatography community across one or more of our markets.

What You'll Gain at Axcend

• A platform where your scientific work directly shapes a growing product line — your methods become product features, and your customer learnings drive R&D priorities.
• Visibility across the chromatography community as the public-facing scientific voice of an emerging instrument company.
• Direct collaboration with experienced engineers, chemists, and applications scientists in a small-team setting where ideas move from whiteboard to instrument quickly.
• A clear growth path into senior applications, applications leadership, product management, or commercial roles as Axcend scales.
• Participation in an early-stage company with real market traction.

Benefits & Culture

Our culture is a direct reflection of our core values: Do it with integrity • Bring passion • Be bold • Be respectful • Show humility • Take ownership • Have fun.

What we offer

• Opportunity for equity ownership
• Flexible PTO
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Life insurance and 401(k) retirement plan
• Family, medical, and caregiver leave
• Remote-eligible from anywhere in the U.S. near a major airport, with periodic visits to Lehi, UT headquarters

How to Apply

Submit your resume and a brief note on why this role interests you — including a publication, presentation, or applied project you're proud of. We review applications on a rolling basis.

Equal opportunity: Axcend values diversity and considers job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.