Professional Specialist - Bioinformatics

18304BR

School of Medicine

Managerial, Professional and Specialist Staff – MPSS

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Professional Specialist - Bioinformatics
Division of Cancer and Genetics
School of Medicine
College of Biomedical and Life Sciences

We seek to appoint a Professional Specialist – Bioinformatics, to work within the Reed laboratory in the Division of Cancer and Genetics as part of a team of bioinformaticians and laboratory workers who generate and analyse Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data relating to the underlying patterns of genomic instability in healthy and diseased cells with aim of creating innovative bioinformatics pipelines that can be applied to a range of biomedical research projects. 

The successful candidate will be a dynamic individual seeking to develop their career at the interface between academic and industry research By developing novel bioinformatics tools to interrogate the underlying patterns of genomic instability, the postholder will investigate the underlying mechanisms of tumorigenesis and other diseases.  Through the development of novel bioinformatic pipelines to analyse Next Generation Sequencing-based datasets, it is expected that this work will underpin translational and clinical research activity, that will result in the development new tools for precision medicine in the area of diagnostics and prognostics of disease.  The postholder will be expected to develop cross cutting collaborative links with clinical and academic colleagues both at Cardiff University and with other leading UK and International research institutes.  

The appointee will contribute to the bioinformatics analysis of NGS data for medical research.  The research-facing work will include the development and maintenance of appropriate analysis pathways using the AWS cloud computing infrastructure.  The individual will have substantial experience of working with NGS data in the field of genomics.  Expert knowledge of data manipulation in a UNIX/Linux environment is essential, as is proficiency in programming languages relevant to data science such as Perl, Python, and R.
The appointee will need to be collaborative, diligent and an effective communicator with excellent organisational and administrative skills to meet the many and varied aspects of the role. They will have proven experience of adapting to the needs of diverse partnerships, developing networks and problem solving.

The postholder will engage with external academic, professional and industrial partners to enhance the School’s research and reputation, and will enhance the School’s creative and inclusive community, which is recognised for its impact on policy, practice and public life.

The position is funded by Broken String Biosciences and the post will be based at the Reed laboratory in the Cancer Genetics Building, Heath Park campus. For more information about Broken String Biosciences see here: https://www.brokenstringbio.com.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (incl bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

The majority of roles at Cardiff University are currently operating under “blended working” arrangements, with staff having the flexibility to work partly from home and partly from the University campus depending on specific business requirements.  Discussions around these arrangements can take place after the successful candidate has been appointed.

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Simon Reed – e-mail: [email protected]

Interviews will be held on Wednesday 27th March 2024.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), fixed term until 31 March 2026, and available from 1 April 2024.

Salary: £32,332 - £34,980 per annum (Grade 5).  Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.

Date advert posted: Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Closing date: Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

Job Purpose

Execute and support the Reed lab with next generation sequencing data analysis, leading projects within the areas of multiomics secondary and tertiary analyses. 

The appointee will be responsible for (i) the provision of bioinformatics expertise and analysis for projects within the Reed laboratory; (ii) seeking opportunities to maximise the utility of bioinformatics to advance research outcomes; (iii) contributing to the development of novel dimension reduction approaches, application of ML and statistical aspects of NGS analysis.

Duties and Responsibilities

Key Duties
•    Provide bioinformatic analysis of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data in support of biomedical research projects being undertaken by researchers in the Reed lab.
•    Establish and maintain working relationships with key contacts, developing appropriate communication links within the University, such as the Division and outside bodies as required (i.e. Broken String Biosciences [BSB]).
•    Apply knowledge of bioinformatics and computational biology to gain insight into INDUCE-Seq and other omics data types.
•    Collaborate on experimental design, execution, and interpretation of experiments with a multidisciplinary team spanning bioinformatics, machine learning, software development and lab-based R&D.
•    Contribute to platform design and development by processing and interpreting high-throughput NGS data generated by our lab R&D team using the INDUCE-Seq platform and other gene-editing characterisation tools.
•    Apply classical statistical methods and machine learning approaches to assess the significance of break induction.
•    Develop novel algorithms to distinguish different classes of DNA double strand break.
•    Prepare data for visualisation and secondary analysis.
•    Apply biological knowledge and statistical rigour to improve understanding of the mechanism and outcomes of a range of mechanism underlying DNA break formation.
•    Support the generation of datasets that can be utilised for development of machine/deep learning models and assist with building and analysing outputs.
•    Identify opportunities to improve existing technology and create new methods and intellectual property aligned with the company’s strategic goals.
•    Collaborate effectively with the broader R&D team and senior staff on project requirements, planning, execution and reporting.
•    Contribute to the analysis of data for external demonstrations of research outcomes.
•    Present results, recommendations and progress reports to colleagues, collaborators and senior staff.
•    Comply with all quality and governance procedures, including structured software development processes.
•    Support the preparation of internal & external reports, presentations, publications and application notes as required.

Duties and Responsibilities cont'd below ...

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education
1.    Degree/NVQ 4 or equivalent Professional membership/experience

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
2.    Substantial experience of working within NGS data and general bioinformatics demonstrating an ability and knowledge of medical genetics, with skills and experience of programming in a language such as Perl, Python and/or R, including data manipulation in a UNIX/Linux environment.
3.    Utilise professional knowledge of NGS bioinformatics to contribute to scientific discussion and analysis of a variety of omics and NGS data to internal Reed lab members and external industry partners and colleagues at BSB.
4.    Proven experience in developing new processes and procedures in bioinformatics, using demonstrable knowledge of key advances within bioinformatics and data analysis. 

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working
5.    Ability to communicate conceptually detailed and complex information effectively and professionally with a wide range of people.
6.    Proven ability to develop professional networks in order to contribute to long term developments within DCG and the wider university.

Planning, Analysis and Problem Solving
7.    Evidence of ability to solve expansive problems using initiative and creativity; identifying and proposing practical solutions and resolving problems with range of potential outcomes.
8.    Evidence of demonstrable knowledge of key advances within bioinformatic analysis of NGS data.
9.    Evidence of ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning and setting priorities for own work and that of others and monitoring progress.

Other
10.    A willingness to undertake further training and development

Desirable Criteria

11.    Postgraduate/Professional qualification
12.    Experience of working in a Higher Education environment
13.    Fluency in Welsh, written and oral
14.    A postgraduate degree at MSc or PhD level in bioinformatics, specialising in NGS datasets.
15.    A background in biological sciences with emphasis on human genomics and genetics
16.    Evidence of collaborations with industry.

Additional Information

Duties and Responsibilites cont'd ...

General Duties
•    Develop and deliver bioinformatics training within the Reed lab.
•    Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the Reed lab including data management and implementing coding standards.
•    Guide other employees in the Reed lab in Bioinformatic QC and analysis of NGS data as required.
•    Provide collaborating researchers with advice on project design and delivery using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action where appropriate.
•    To undergo personal and professional development that is appropriate to, and which will enhance performance.
•    Apply software engineering best practices to build reproducible pipelines to analyse NGS data in the cloud.
•    Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
•    Abide by University and company policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.
•    Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Additional Information
This post is supported through an industry-funded post-doctoral agreement between Cardiff University and Broken String Biosciences Ltd. The Reed lab actively maintains the research alliance between the university and BSB. This post will bring together and support the academic activities on DSB research with the broader research activities performed at Broken String Biosciences. The novel application of INDUCE-seq to genomic instability through DSB formation by exogenous agents and endogenous processes requires an alternative bioinformatics approach such as the implementation of unsupervised machine learning algorithms (e.g. dimension reduction). Subsequent knowledge transfer between academic colleagues and industry partners would be facilitated by this industry-funded appointment. The currently advertised post will be based within the Division of Cancer and Genetics and line managed by Professor Reed.

How we will support you in performing in this role – 
There are some things that you must have before you can start this role (see ‘Essential Criteria’), but other things can be developed either through training, or just by general on-the-job experience.  We want to support and develop you once you have started in the role using a combination of the following to get the best out of you:

1.    Regular one-to-ones with your manager
2.    An experienced and supportive team around you
3.    Supporting you through job-relevant training and development that you may require
4.    A mentoring scheme

IMPORTANT: Evidencing Criteria

It is School of Medicine's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement.

Please ensure when submitting this document / attaching it to your application profile you name it with the vacancy reference number, in this instance for this post, 18304BR.

If candidates do not provide written evidence of meeting all of the essential criteria then their application will not be progressed. The School of Medicine welcome the submission of CVs to accompany evidence of the job-based criteria.

Job Category

Admin / Clerical, Management & Executive