Senior Bioinformatician

About Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT)

The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) works to develop and deploy advanced technology in pursuit of solving some of humanity’s most challenging and enduring problems. Guided by world-leading scientists and entrepreneurs, EIT seeks to accelerate innovation by driving scientific and technological advancements across four humane endeavours: health and medical science, food security and sustainable agriculture, climate change and clean energy, and government innovation and the era of artificial intelligence.

EIT Oxford is a new interdisciplinary research and development facility that bridges The Oxford Science Park and Littlemore. Set for completion in 2027, the state-of-the-art facility will have 30,000m² of research laboratories, an oncology and preventative care clinic, plus educational and meeting spaces. The new facility will further EIT’s current partnership with the University of Oxford and become the new home for Ellison Scholars.

Please visit eit.org for more details.

At the Ellison Institute, we believe that an inclusive, collaborative team atmosphere is just as important to our mission as our scientific aims and methods. We strive to build a supportive environment where everyone feels confident taking creative risks toward innovation. We value emotional intelligence and communicating with empathy and respect for others. We foster a team that is curious, has a deep sense of commitment, responsibility, and the resilience needed to achieve excellence.

About Pathogens

The EIT Pathogena Mission aims to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases by developing Whole Genome Sequencing-based metagenomic and individual pathogen clinical tools with the ultimate aim of developing an ‘always-on global pathogen metagenomics system with the ability to identify Pathogen X and provide early warning of disease epidemics.’  

Built by a long-established world-leading pathogen genomics team from the University of Oxford, supported by the cloud computing scale and security of Oracle Inc, the Pathogena Mission is designing a global, turn-key solution that systematises how data from genomic sequencing is processed. It aims to develop pipelines to analyse a broad range of pathogens and deliver solutions to laboratories, hospitals, and public health organisations around the globe.

The Role: 

Reporting to the CSO, you will have a unique and exciting opportunity to contribute to the development, evaluation, and deployment of groundbreaking bioinformatic solutions within a real-world context. We are on the lookout for exceptional talent and someone who embodies our passion, has the technical capability and sees the vast potential for global application of our products.

You'll engage closely with our partners at the University of Oxford, demonstrating a mission-driven attitude and adaptability to fulfil our collective objectives. Your contributions will not only be valued but encouraged, as we seek your input on enhancing our offerings, platform, and operational practices. This role promises an opportunity to make a real difference in the world though bioinformatic and cloud-based analysis for patient, hospital and public health benefit. 

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Develop code, implement and evaluate computational/bioinformatic methods and tools to support research and development in infectious disease genomics including species prediction, AMR determination, and outbreak and relatedness information.
• Creating analysis pipelines and validating various tools’ performances.
• Understand various sequencing devices and data types as well have a good enough understanding of upstream laboratory processes.
• Be familiar with current genomic repositories such as ENA, GenBank, GISAID etc.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including academics, clinicians, computer scientists, biostaticians, and biologist to develop and implement data-driven strategies.
• Stay abreast on the latest developments in bioinformatics and computational biology.
• Be innovative and take initiate to introduce new ideas and approaches.
• Manage and mentor team members, setting performance goals and providing regular feedback. 

We are looking for someone with: 

• A PhD qualification in computer science, bioinformatics, computational biology, microbiology, mathematics, genetic epidemiology, genomics, machine learning or equivalent.
• Strong programming skills in languages such as Bash, Python, R, Nextflow, Snakemake  etc.
• Experience in infectious disease genomic analysis.
• Having a scientific understanding of infectious disease genomics.
• 3-5+ years of experience in bioinformatics and computational biology.
• An established or upcoming bioinformatic publication history.
• Experience with large-scale genetic data analysis using bioinformatics tools and pipelines.
• Proven leadership and management skills and excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a high-growth, fast-paced, dynamic environment. 

Nice to haves:

• Experience using docker and working with cloud computing.  
• Experience with regulatory guidelines and systems e.g. FDA, CE, UKCA, EUCAST.  
• Familiarity with machine learning and data visualization techniques.   
• Experience working in a biotech or pharma industry setting. 
• A track record of launching an academic product in the commercial market.

Terms of Appointment

·       Eligible to work in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary.

·       Based in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford.

·       During peak periods, some longer hours may be required and some working across multiple time zones due to the global nature of the programme.

Salary Package Includes

·       Competitive salary reviewed annually based on performance and market rates.

·       Bonus scheme participation.

·       Travel Allowance.

·       Enhanced sick pay and maternity/paternity after qualifying service.

·       Access to Employee Assistance Programme and also Online and Virtual Therapy services.

·       Employer funded Private Medical Insurance and Hospital Cash Plan

·       Access to Perk Box for high street and online savings as well as other discounts and benefits.

·       Pension salary sacrifice scheme, minimum 5% employee and 7.5% from employer

·       Group life cover 4 times annual base salary

·       Group income protection plan

·       Holiday is 25 days a year plus public holiday. In addition, workplace closure between Christmas and New Year. Employees can also purchase up to five additional days.

Location

Oxford, UK/remote blend. office based on Oxford Science Park with some remote working