Senior Bioinformatician | Genomic Surveillance

Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life-changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

We are looking for a Senior Bioinformatician to help deliver high-quality software, data, analysis and resources for the genomic surveillance of pathogens and associated vectors at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. 

About us

One of the biggest challenges in the battle against infectious disease is that pathogens are continually evolving. Genomic surveillance involves sequencing the genetic material of pathogenic microbes and their vectors so that evolutionary changes that affect transmission, disease severity and susceptibility to treatment can be observed. The goal of the Wellcome Sanger Institute’s Genomic Surveillance Unit (GSU) is to enable the use of genomic surveillance as a practical tool for local infectious disease control and pandemic preparedness.

About the role

As a Senior Bioinformatician in the GSU, you will join a team engaged in generating, processing, analysing and interpreting genomic surveillance data at scale to enable and support public-health decision-making. We work across a growing number of disease areas, with our work on Malaria and respiratory viruses now expanding to include vector-borne viruses (such as Dengue and Chikungunya).  As part of the team, your work will encompass genomics pipeline development, biocuration and data analysis. Specific aspects of the role include:

• Developing and maintaining robust, high-quality bioinformatics data-processing pipelines and applying them to large genomic datasets to deliver analysis-ready genomic surveillance data

• Analysis of genomic datasets to address questions posed by public health programmes and to drive methodological improvements in our analytical workflows

• Producing and curating high-quality data resources that are impactful for public health

• Actively contributing to the continuous improvement of our software, infrastructure, processes and ways of working. 

As a Senior bioinformatician, you will take a leading role in certain projects and provide guidance and mentorship for more junior team members. 

About you

You are a bioinformatician with experience working with large-scale genomic data. You are seeking a multi-faceted role that includes elements of pipeline development, data science and microbial genomics, and ideally you will have experience across a number of these areas.

You are a detail-oriented problem-solver motivated by our mission of delivering high-quality data and analysis for public health impact. Teamwork and collaboration are essential, and you will be passionate about creating effective and productive relationships with collaborators within and outside the organisation.

Essential skills

• A postgraduate qualification (or equivalent working experience) in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology or a related discipline 

• Extensive experience working with microbial or pathogen genomic data and online resources

• Proficiency in use of Python or for software development and/or data analysis 

• Building genomic data processing pipelines using Nextflow 

• High-performance computing environments

• Modern Bioinformatics development practices, including version control and containerisation

Additional information

Please note: This is a hybrid role with 3 days per week onsite.

Applications: Please include a cover letter along with your CV. In your cover letter, include detail on how your knowledge, skills and experience match the requirements of the role described.

Salary per annum: £44,900 to £53,900, dependent upon skills and experience

Closing date: Monday 05-MAY-25

Contract duration: Permanent

Role profile: For the full list of accountabilities and criteria, please click here.

View our 2023-2024 Institute Highlights here: bit.ly/SangerHighlights2023-24

Hybrid Working at Wellcome Sanger:

We recognise that there are many benefits to Hybrid Working; including an improved work-life balance, with more focused time, as well as the ability to organise working time so that collaborative opportunities and team discussions are facilitated on campus. The hybrid working arrangement will vary for different roles and teams. The nature of your role and the type of work you do will determine if a hybrid working arrangement is possible.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

We aim to attract, recruit, retain and develop talent from the widest possible talent pool, thereby gaining insight and access to different markets to generate a greater impact on the world. We have a supportive culture with the following staff networks, LGBTQ+, Parents and Carers, Disability and Race Equity to bring people together to share experiences, offer specific support and development opportunities and raise awareness. The networks are also a place for allies to provide support to others.

We want our people to be whoever they want to be because we believe people who bring their best selves to work, do their best work. That’s why we’re committed to creating a truly inclusive culture at Sanger Institute. We will consider all individuals without discrimination and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, where everyone can thrive.

Our Benefits:

We are proud to deliver an awarding campus-wide employee wellbeing strategy and programme. The importance of good health and adopting a healthier lifestyle and the commitment to reduce work-related stress is strongly acknowledged and recognised at Sanger Institute.

Sanger Institute became a signatory of the International Technician Commitment initiative In March 2018.  The Technician Commitment aims to empower and ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.