Bioinformatician/Senior Bioinformatician

About this position

We are looking for a talented data production service bioinformatician to join the Gene Expression team. You will be involved in data production, writing pipelines and running large-scale biological data analyses.

The primary responsibilities will be designing and maintaining the data analysis and production pipelines (which use various languages, bash, R, Perl and Python and workflow systems)  on Unix-based systems, both on HPC and cloud scenarios, and analysing large-scale gene expression datasets (microarrays, RNA-Seq and scRNA-seq).

Strong technical, interpersonal and communication skills are key to this position. The Expression Atlas team is interdisciplinary, consisting of user interface developers, data curators, scientists and bioinformaticians. The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with other Atlas team members, as well as project stakeholders and other interdisciplinary teams across the EBI. We place a high value on self-motivation and drive for quality.

The post holder will report to the Expression Atlas Technical Coordinator. 

At EMBL-EBI, we help scientists realise the potential of ‘big data’ in biology by enabling them to exploit complex information to make discoveries that benefit mankind. Working for EMBL-EBI gives you an opportunity to apply your skills and energy for the greater good. As part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), we are a non-profit, intergovernmental organisation funded by 22 member states and two associate member states and proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge in the UK, and our 600 staff are engineers, technicians, scientists and other professionals from all over the world.

Your role

Your role will include the following tasks:

• Working with the Expression Atlas team to deliver a data production analysis pipelines for expression data.
• Collaborating with other teams EMBL-EBI, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Open Targets.
• Keeping up to date with modern software engineering best practice and new technologies.
• Representing the team and the institute at project meetings and international scientific conferences.

You have

You should hold an MSc or higher qualification in Bioinformatics and have at least three or more year's postgraduate working experience.

Essential skills for this post are:

• Bioinformatics pipeline development in a Unix-based environment and working in a high-performance computing cluster environment
• At least experience in two languages out of Perl, Python, Bash and R
• Working experience with relational databases.
• Working experience with Git

You might also have

• R programming skills (including Bioconductor) and gene expression data analysis (NGS and microarrays)
• Workflow environments exposure, in particular Galaxy, Nextflow or similar.
• An interest in DevOps and UNIX system administration
• Software packaging in Linux (ideally experience with Conda)
• Working experience with cloud providers (OpenStack, AWS or GCP).
• Experience in working in a CI/CD environment with version control and managed releases.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with good communication and interpersonal skills. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who is team-oriented and who can manage their own time to meet the needs of the project. The key attributes sought are the ability to work in a team, excellent attention to detail, solid problem-solving skills, and the desire to learn and improve.

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

This position is project-limited to a 3 year duration or until 30/09/2025 in the first instance.

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 or not within commuting distance. More info on how we are recruiting in this period is available on our page: Recruitment and Onboarding during Covid19.

We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date. 

Job no.: EBI01786