Job Description

Salary for this Role:

From \xc2\xa349,000 with benefits, subject to skills and experience.

Job Title:

Senior Bioinformatician \xe2\x80\x93 World Influenza Centre

Reports to: Nicola Lewis

Closing Date: 22/Oct/2023 23.59 GMT

:

Senior Bioinformatician \xe2\x80\x93 World Influenza Centre

Contract term: This is a full-time, permanent position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Summary

We are seeking a collaborative and self-motivated bioinformatician to join the Worldwide Influenza Centre (WIC) at the Francis Crick Institute to work on all aspects of influenza genomics. The WIC is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Influenza with international responsibilities for monitoring the evolution and epidemiology of Influenza. This Senior Bioinformatician is a critical role within the team, responsible for management of the WIC\xe2\x80\x99s informatics pipelines and infrastructure, end-to-end delivery of genomic analyses and preparation of a variety of surveillance and vaccine selection reports that directly contributes to the WHO\xe2\x80\x99s global strategy for combatting Influenza.

The role is ideally suited for a creative and collaborative individual with a strong interest in the genomics and evolution of Influenza and other respiratory viruses. We are looking for candidates that have extensive experience in next generation sequence analysis, particularly those with expertise in microbial population genomics, epidemiology, and statistics. The post-holder will also manage the operation and development of the WIC\xe2\x80\x99s computational pipelines and lead the development of new tools and applications that support the work of the WIC. Therefore, software engineering skills, experience working within a high-performance computing environment, familiarity with working with databases and an understanding of workflow orchestration frameworks such as Nextflow will be essential. The successful applicant will be fluent in R or Python, or similar programming languages used for coding and statistical computing. Desirably, the post-holder will have a background in influenza or RNA virus biology or microbial evolutionary biology. Prior experience integrating and analysing large datasets with statistically rigorous methods is particularly desired.

Key responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

• Lead on the running and development of the NGS analysis pipelines
• Evaluate and provide software, databases, protocols and methods to aid in the analysis of genomic and biological analyses
• Develop methodologies and techniques to address analysis issues and implement software and data resources in relation to these technologies
• Automate or improve data flow and storage
• Work within a matrix management approach with the Data Management team, the software engineering team and the process development team at the Crick with the purpose of developing solutions for integrating influenza genomics data with other laboratory outputs (i.e. antigenic data, antiviral analysis) as well as with metadata into a LIMS system
• Perform downstream analysis and produce visually engaging figures and reports
• Contribute to writing manuscripts for publication
• Provide consultation and communication in data analysis, statistics, genomics and other areas of bioinformatics, to other members of the team
• Training of laboratory members of National Influenza Centres is a significant part of our remit; the candidate is expected to collaborate in such training program
• Produce thorough but concise written documentation of algorithms, validations, SOPs, and other processes and procedures as required

In addition, our group have multiple collaborations nationally and internationally, and there will be an opportunity to engage with our industry and academic partners. The candidate will collaborate with other computational scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and have opportunities to develop their skills.

Key experience and competencies

• An MSc, or equivalent, in Bioinformatics, Computer Science or a closely related discipline, or in a biology-related subject with substantial experience of Bioinformatics. A PhD is desirable but not essential
• Demonstrable ability to produce well designed and documented code in Python, R, or an equivalent scripting/programming language relevant to bioinformatics data processing
• Comfortable working in a Unix / Linux environment, preferably on high performance computing (HPC) systems
• Experience developing computational pipelines in frameworks such as Nextflow is a strong advantage
• Demonstrable experience with the processing and analysis of large genomic datasets, preferably next-generation sequencing datasets, and their associated metadata
• Familiarity with bioinformatics tools and data standards to process and analyse next-generation sequencing data, including the use of and development of quantitative methods (phylogenetic and phenotypic) to characterise virus evolution
• Familiarity with the application of statistical techniques to biological data
• Experience of interaction with investigators on scientific projects and working in a collaborative environment
• Excellent scientific analysis skills, experience of managing a large analysis project, including monitoring and allocating resources, within a genomic or genetical environment is desirable
• Ability to work with minimal supervision, organising and prioritising own workload
• Excellent communication and presentation skills within a research environment, building highly effective working relationships with team and customers
• Evidence of independent and original contribution to research
• Ability to manage projects to timelines, analyse, present and write up data in a timely manner
• Experience in the field of virus evolution is desired
• A broad comprehension of high throughput genomic technologies
• Experience of supervising or mentoring other members of the team

About Us

At the Crick, we conduct research at the forefront of biomedical research. We combine rigour with an open and collaborative culture, and are outward-looking, reflecting our status as a partnership of six organisations aiming to pool knowledge, ideas and resources.

We have a wide research portfolio with no divisions or departments, bringing biomedical researchers together with clinicians, physical scientists and applied scientists from our pharmaceutical partners.

We aim to attract the most talented researchers and support them to tackle innovative research questions. Our science technology platforms provide our researchers with access to state-of-the-art technology and expertise.

We provide an excellent learning environment with dedicated education programmes in public engagement with science, education and personal development, and a postdoc training programme that prepares scientists for leadership roles in science.

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our

. * All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

• If you require a visa to work in the UK we will help support your application should you be successful

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Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, or civil partnership, marital or family status. We particularly welcome applications from people who are Minority Ethnic as they are currently underrepresented in the Crick at this level.

Diversity is essential to excellence in scientific endeavour. It increases breadth and perspective, leading to more innovation and creativity. We want the Crick to be a place where everyone feels valued and where diversity is celebrated and seen as part of the foundation for our Institute\xe2\x80\x99s success.

The Crick is committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusivity. We all share in the responsibility to actively promote dignity, respect, inclusivity and equal treatment and it is our aim to ensure that these principles are reflected and implemented in all strategies, policies and practices.

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