Data Engineer (Bioinformatics)

We are hiring 2x Data Engineers (Bioinformatics) to join our Data Engineering Team! As a Data Engineer (Bioinformatics) at Our Future Health, you will have a solid understanding and experience of bioinformatics in particular, tools and methods associated with genomic data. You can design, build and test pipelines using a range of technologies, you can create repeatable and reusable products. You're a strong communicator where you're comfortable working with a multidisciplinary team of Scientists, Software Engineers, Product Managers and other Data Engineers.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Support the build of data pipelines from data providers to our primary data store and Trusted Research Environment.
• Produce logic for data transformation steps as code, which meets the requirements for our end users and builds well-curated, accessible and quality-controlled data for analysis.
• Developing prototypes for pipelines for complex transformations drawing on existing workflows developed in industry and academia.
• Keep abreast of best practices in data engineering across industry, research and Government and facilitating the adoption of standards.
• Providing technical input into the upstream parts of the data pipeline, including the specification and transfer of data from data providers.
• Routine ad-hoc data curation activities requiring hands-on development of bespoke ETL cleaning scripts using languages such as Python.
• Working with researchers to understand the data requirements and work with them to deliver the data needed for their projects.

Our Future Health will be the UK’s largest ever health research programme, bringing people together to develop new ways to detect, prevent, and treat diseases. We are a charity, supported by the UK Government, in partnership with charities and industry. We work closely with the NHS and with public authorities across all nations and regions of the UK.

Requirements

The successful Data Engineer can listen to the needs of technical and business stakeholders and interpret them and effectively manage stakeholder expectations. To succeed in this role, you will also have some of the following skills:

• Experience working in an Agile development team
• Highly proficient in Python
• Understanding of containerisation using Docker and deployment with Kubernetes
• Experience with version control (Git/Github)
• Follow best practices like code review and clean code unit tests
• Understanding of information governance and data security approaches appropriate for sensitive health data following ISO27001
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of genomic data
• Experience using bioinformatics file standards (VCF, BGEN etc) and tools (PLINK, bcftools, QCtools etc)
• Experience in validating and QCing complex genomic datasets
• Experience building and maintaining robust, scalable and efficient pipelines capable of processing very large amounts of data from one or multiple systems.
• You know how to create repeatable and reusable products. 
• Experience with workflow management tools such as Nextflow, WDL/Cromwell, Airflow, Prefect and Dagster
• Good understanding of cloud environments (ideally Azure), distributed computing and scaling workflows and pipelines
• Understanding of common data transformation and storage formats, e.g. Apache Parquet
• Awareness of data standards such as GA4GH ( https://www.ga4gh.org/) and FAIR (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/).
• Exposure of genotyping and imputation is highly advantageous

Benefits

• Competitive base salary
• Generous Pension Scheme – We invest in your future with employer contributions of up to 12%.
• 30 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays – Enjoy a generous holiday allowance with the flexibility to take bank holidays when it suits you.
• Enhanced Parental Leave – Supporting you during life’s biggest moments.
• Career Growth & Development – £500 per year to spend on Learnerbly, our learning platform, plus regular appraisals and development opportunities.
• Cycle to Work Scheme – Save 25-39% on a new bike and accessories through salary sacrifice.
• Home & Tech Savings – Get up to 8% off on IKEA and Currys products, spreading the cost over 12 months through salary sacrifice
• £1,000 Employee Referral Bonus – Know someone amazing? Get rewarded for bringing them on board!
• Wellbeing Support – Access to Mental Health First Aiders, plus 24/7 online GP services and an Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family.
• A Great Place to Work – We have a lovely Central London office in Holborn, and offer flexible and remote working arrangements.
• Join us - let’s prevent disease together.