Bioinformatician/Data Scientist

Bioinformatician/Data Scientist

(Principal Scientist/Senior Scientist)

Location Cambridge UK

Contract Permanent and full time

Start date September 2019 (flexible)

Closing date: Midnight 27th August

Cancer Research UK's Therapeutic Discovery Laboratories (CRUK-TDL) is the in-house CRUK drug discovery unit, with a principal focus on establishing and prosecuting biologically-themed multi-project alliances with commercial partners. CRUK-TDL are building a Core Data and Informatics Team (CDIT) to provide a hub of technical know-how, best practice and subject-matter expertise to our scientists.

We are looking for both Bioinformaticians and Data Scientists to contribute their subject matter expertise to this team, supporting multiple aspects of the drug-discovery project lifecycle. CDIT will be based at the Functional Genomics Centre (FGC) located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca's new state of the art CRISPR screening facility.

Key CDIT Duties and Responsibilities:

Providing leadership on best practices in data capture, transformation, analysis and visualisation to CRUK-TDL scientists
Providing critical assessment of current data sources, processes and analysis tools
Working proactively with domain experts and project teams to help answer critical-path biological questions and support day-to-day lab work
Integrating and interpreting functional genomics and biological pathway data from in-house and public sources to identify and validate novel oncology targets and inform disease positioning
Developing, packaging and running custom analysis pipelines for the analysis and interpretation of functional genomics data
Developing and maintaining an infrastructure framework supporting FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Retrievable) data practices
To view our full Bioinformatician job description please click here: https://adobe.ly/2ZQFDt3

To view our full Data Scientist job description please click here: https://adobe.ly/33koJou

As a Bioinformatician you will have:

A deep understanding of next generation sequencing methods, platform-specific bias and errors, and data analysis and interpretation. Experience working with pooled CRISPR or RNAseq screening data would be highly advantageous
The ability to formulate testable hypotheses to provide insight on complex biological problems in oncology and immuno-oncology
Demonstrable experience of working with statistical packages (R strongly preferred), scripting languages (Python strongly preferred), and reporting/visualisation tools (e.g. Shiny)
An understanding of good experimental design and the application of statistical methodologies for the interpretation of experimental data
Experience applying bioinformatics techniques to identify novel drug targets would be beneficial
Previous experience deploying Linux pipelines in an AWS environment would be highly advantageous
As a Data Scientist you will have:

In-depth experience of data ingestion, processing and visualisation tools and techniques as well as a good understanding of data architecture/engineering
The ability to critically assess data sets from any source and provide a clear and concise overview to non-data scientists
Expertise in scripting languages (Python strongly preferred) and data querying/manipulation tools (SQL, Spark, SPARQL)
A strong background in statistical analysis and data modelling
Experience in the automation of complex data processing tasks
An interest in exploring the application of novel techniques and tools to existing problems
An interest in cancer biology and the drug discovery process would be highly beneficial
This is a unique opportunity to be part of a new initiative, helping to progress data-driven drug discovery, and contribute directly to patient benefit. The ideal candidates will have a PhD or equivalent experience in a relevant field (i.e. bioinformatics, mathematics, statistics, data science, or computer science); excellent communication skills; a collaborative mentality with the ability and confidence to work independently where required; and a commitment to continued development.

At CRUK we value diversity and we're committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone is able to be themselves and to reach their full potential. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures and believe that a diverse workforce will help us to beat cancer sooner.

Please note, from October 2019, our head office will be relocating from Islington to a new office space in Stratford, close to the Olympic Park.