Ensembl Metazoan Bioinformatician

About this position

We are seeking an enthusiastic bioinformatics developer to work on ensuring free publics access to genomics data from key species involved in disease, evolution and the environment.

Ensembl provides genomic resources for species across the entire metazoan taxonomic tree. A particular focus of this resource is pathogenic organisms and their vectors which affect human, animal and plant health. Ensembl Metazoa partners with a number of other projects to generate, gather, and disseminate data in a coordinated fashion to the scientific community. A key partner in this work is VEuPathDB, a US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funded Bioinformatics Resource Center.

We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic bioinformatics scientist to join the Ensembl Metazoa team whose work spans computational biology, software development, large-scale compute, big data, workflow management and automation. As part of the team you will help us develop software and processes that can scale to the analysis of thousands of genomes, contributing towards improvements in human, animal and crop health. The team is highly collaborative, and you will interact with partners in the USA and Europe.

Your role

You will develop and maintain software and workflows for the processing and management of large genomic data sets. You will work on improving the automation, scalability and reliability of our existing workflows, help develop new software and processes, and help support community gene annotation activities with our partner sites.

Your specific responsibilities will include:

• Maintenance and development of our database, documentation and software infrastructures
• Design and implementation of innovative infrastructure solutions to increase automation, reliability and scalability of our data processing pipelines and workflows
• Coordination of production workflows and delivery of processed data as part of the VEuPathDB and Ensembl release cycles
• Support for community genome annotation using the Apollo genome annotation system

You have

A post-graduate qualification (MSc, PhD or equivalent) in computational biology or bioinformatics or equivalent vocational experience. You should have practical experience working with large scale genomic data. Specifically, we are looking for:

• Proficiency with a dynamic programming language, specifically Python or Perl
• Proficiency with relational databases and SQL
• Proficiency working in a command line UNIX/Linux environment
• Ability to understand, write and maintain complex code
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and English language skills

You might also have

Experience with the following will be considered a plus:

• Experience with genomic assembly and annotation
• Experience of managing genome databases and genomic data
• Previous experience with the Apollo annotation system
• Experience working with high-performance compute clusters and batch schedulers e.g. LSF
• Developing software as part of a large collaborative team

Should a candidate not have experience our nominated programming languages, those who show a willingness to learn will be considered.

Why join us

EMBL-EBI is a worldwide leader in bioinformatics. We encourage personal and professional development and are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their potential at work.

Surrounded by beautiful South Cambridgeshire countryside, our state-of-the-art Campus provides employees with a relaxed atmosphere where the pursuit of scientific discovery and meaningful work, underpin every role. In addition, our employees have access to a wide range of benefits including:

• 30 days annual leave per year plus 8 bank holidays
• Flexible work arrangements
• Unique pension scheme including 17% employer contribution
• Annual salary review
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Death benefit, long-term care, accident at work and unemployment insurances
• Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
• On-site library and subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria
• Casual dress code
• Free shuttle bus to and from Campus
• Extensive sports and social club activities (run on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: Onsite nursery, child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
• Benefits for non-UK residents:Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance

What else you need to know

To apply please submit a covering letter and CV through our online system. 

At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ and individuals from all nationalities. Visa exemptions will be offered to international candidates and details will be discussed during interview. We believe in science without borders and this continues after Brexit.

This role is based in Hinxton, UK and you will be required to relocate once it is safe to do so if you are currently based abroad. More info on how we are recruiting in this period is available on our page: Recruitment and Onboarding during Covid19.