Job Description
When joining PerkinElmer, you select an experienced and trusted leader in scientific solutions, with the support of a global service network and distribution centers, providing the right solution, at the right time, to meet critical customer needs. With over an 80+ year legacy of advancing science and a mission of innovating for a healthier world, our dedicated team collaborates closely with commercial, government, academic and healthcare customers to deliver our broad portfolio of analytical solutions, and OneSource services.
Job Title
R&D Software Support Engineer
Location(s)
Canada
Responsibilities
Customer Advocacy & Engagement
- Serve as the dedicated voice of the customer within the R&D software team, ensuring user needs remain central to development priorities.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, field service engineers, and technical support staff to develop a deep understanding of real-world ICP-MS instrument usage.
- Collaborate directly with customers to understand technical challenges and operational impact, clearly communicating troubleshooting steps, findings, and recommended solutions in a professional and structured manner.
- Provide guidance on best practices, system configuration, and preventative measures, and support customer acceptance of workarounds and final resolutions.
Technical Support & Issue Resolution
- Provide Tier 2/Tier 3 support for software applications integrated with ICP-MS instrumentation, acting as the primary escalation liaison for issues that cannot be resolved by field service or technical support alone.
- Configure and operate PerkinElmer ICP-MS instrumentation in a lab environment to reproduce customer-reported issues, perform detailed troubleshooting across application, instrument control, firmware, and OS/network layers.
- Identify and validate workarounds to minimize customer downtime while permanent fixes are developed.
- Track the full issue lifecycle from initial submission through resolution, maintaining transparent status updates to all stakeholders and ensuring timely follow-up and closure.
- Assist in system testing for new releases and updates from a supportability perspective.
Root Cause Analysis & Engineering Collaboration
- Conduct preliminary root cause analysis and document findings with supporting data before escalation to engineering.
- Coordinate with software developers and engineering teams for defect escalation, deeper RCA, and resolution planning.
- Validate software fixes, patches, and configurations against original customer-reported scenarios prior to customer deployment.
Field Service & Technical Support Enablement
- Support development of training materials and briefings to field service and technical support teams on new software releases, known issues, and workarounds.
- Create and maintain troubleshooting guides, FAQ documents, diagnostic procedures, and knowledge base articles for common software-related instrument issues.
- Provide real-time support to field engineers during critical customer escalations requiring deep software or instrument knowledge.
Continuous Improvement & Documentation
- Identify recurring issues and propose improvements to product quality, documentation, and support processes.
- Provide structured feedback to R&D and product management on usability, reliability, and customer pain points.
- Author and maintain internal documentation including troubleshooting guides, FAQ documents, diagnostic procedures, workflow guides, known issue summaries
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field.
- 3+ years of experience in software technical support, preferably in scientific instrumentation or regulated environments.
- Strong troubleshooting skills across software and hardware systems.
- Experience reproducing complex technical issues in controlled lab environments.
- Ability to analyze logs, system data, and error conditions to isolate root causes.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with customers and internal teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Hands-on experience with ICP-MS instrumentation and associated scientific or laboratory software applications (e.g., instrument control software, LIMS, ELN, or data analysis tools).
- Understanding of networking, databases, and Windows-based system environments.
- Exposure to regulated environments (e.g., GMP, FDA 21 CFR Part 11).
- Experience working with global support teams and distributed engineering organizations.
Working Conditions
- Based on-site in Woodbridge, Ontario with access to lab instrumentation systems.
- May require occasional off-hours support or coordination with global teams.
- Hands-on interaction with laboratory instruments and computing environments.
The annual compensation range for this full-time position is $85,000 to $95,000 CAD. The final base pay offered to the successful candidate will be determined by factors including internal equity, work location, as well as individual qualifications, such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
