Scientist - Computational Biology

ABOUT US:Volta is building a suite of genomics applications for our first-of-its-kind digital fluidics sample prep automation platform. Our technology will remove the need for laborious sample setup, provide a technology-agnostic suite, and shorten sample processing time from hours to seconds. We believe our tech is the next step in unlocking the hospital of the future and will accelerate medical research by decades.

The Role:

• We’re a startup, we launched our Instrument and platform to early-adopting customers this year. We are now expanding the capabilities of the platform by launching new NGS applications and automated workflows. 
• The Scientist - Computational Biology will report to the Head of Applications Development, becoming an integral part of the applications development team. You’ll own the development and maintenance of bioinformatic pipelines across all upcoming applications currently identified in our product portfolio.
• This is a critical role that has strategic and hands-on elements, perfect for a builder type who craves visible impact in a growing team.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities & First Year Expectations:

• As a Scientist at Volta Labs, you’ll work closely with our team of bioengineers and biologists, focusing on understanding and optimizing workflow performance for a range of genomic applications.

Day-to-Day:
• Support Application development: Contribute to the experimental design, analysis, and optimization of Applications development on Callisto across all applications, our Sample Prep System.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with the Application Development team to translate application requirements into technical solutions, validating that performance meets or exceeds specifications.
• Data-Driven Development: Use existing workflows and data to guide development and analysis, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.


Within 3 Months, You’ll…
• Complete onboarding, gaining a foundational understanding of automated liquid handling on Callisto and our overarching approach to genomic assay development on the platform.
• Gain a deep understanding of pipelines and metrics that are essential for key applications.
• Begin optimizing bioinformatic pipelines and implementing new features as necessary
• Collaborate with R&D Scientists to analyze sequencing data


By 6 Months, You’ll…
• Take full ownership of developing bioinformatic pipelines and managing AWS infrastructure
• Continuously refine and optimize bioinformatics workflows
• Begin developing new bioinformatic workflows
• Work cross functionally with marketing to communicate data to external stakeholders


At 12+ Months, You’ll…
• Grow cross-functionally, interacting with both R&D and marketing teams
• Continuously develop and refine bioinformatic workflows
• Become a leader in identifying and implementing workflows problems, continuously engaging in self-directed learning, and relaying information to the team

Required Skills and Abilities:

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Must-Haves:
• Life Sciences PhD with strong background in bioinformatics 
• Strong background in bioinformatics and analysis
• Proficient with standard bioinformatics tools and libraries
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Singularity)
• Demonstrated experience with cloud computing infrastructure like AWS (EC2, S3, ECR)
• Strong programming skills (command line, Linux, Python/R)
• Familiarity with statistics (using R or Python)
• Familiarity with Git/version control
• Presentation skills, excellent communication skills and teamwork abilities
• Presentation and communication skills; able to work well within a team
• Efficient, creative problem-solving and troubleshooting skills
• Willingness to be hands-on
• Highly collaborative; comfortable working in multidisciplinary teams
• Self-motivated and organized
• Thrives in a fast-paced, team-focused environment with changing priorities; proactive team player who thinks ahead, plans, and focuses on solutions
• Continuous learner with a growth mindset
• Embraces Volta’s Operating Principles

Nice-to-Haves:
• 1-2 years of wet-lab experience
• Experience analyzing data from multiple sequencing platforms (short and long read)
• Experience interpreting variant calling 
• Experience with hybridization capture analysis
• Familiarity with Nextflow and Seqera platform

Education and Experience:
• Life Sciences PhD with strong background in bioinformatics, or MSc with 4+ years experience across systems