Senior Computational Associate

Job Description

TITLE: Senior Computational Associate

GROUP: Methods Development Lab

REPORTS TO: Principal Computational Scientist, Genomics Platform

Methods Development Lab:

The combination of molecular and computational advances over the past decade has substantially augmented our ability to create transformative methods. While this accelerated pace of methods development offers great promise, the rapid expansion of novel techniques gives rise to new challenges in effective adoption and implementation. To capitalize on these exciting advances, the Broad Institute has formed the Methods Development Lab (MDL), with the mission of identifying key scientific frontiers and generating high-performance end-to-end approaches to enable the research community.

Research Focus - Long-read Transcriptomics:

A core focus of the MDL is the development of novel molecular and computational techniques to advance the state of the art for transcriptomic science. We seek an exceptional researcher to join our efforts in developing and applying tools for the identification and characterization of full-length transcripts using long-read RNA isoform sequencing.

The Senior Computational Associate will play a hands-on role advancing both core MDL and collaborative projects. A central focus will be on driving application of novel transcriptomic tools with our growing number of collaborators. The Senior Computational Associate will work in an integrated fashion with our internal development and production teams, to assist in the refinement and productionization of novel transcriptomics methods.

The ideal candidate should be highly skilled in bioinformatics and computational methods development with proficiency in multiple programming languages and data analysis techniques. The candidate should also be broadly conversant with techniques for genomic, transcriptomic, or very large-scale data analysis.

• PLEASE INCLUDE A COVER LETTER WITH YOUR APPLICATION *

Responsibilities

• Drive transcriptomics applications on collaborative and core MDL projects.

• Conceive and implement novel computational tools for the characterization and use of full-length single-cell/spatial/bulk RNA long-read sequencing data.

• Write tests (unit/integration/acceptance) to ensure the integrity and proper output of their code.

• Present results to both computational and non-computational audiences, both internally and externally.

• Follow relevant scientific literature to ensure the use of optimal methods and understand emerging practices across the field.

• Publish novel methods in collaboration with Broad scientists.

Skills and Abilities

• Must be forward-thinking and innovative, with a nimble scientific/technical mind, able to rapidly develop and execute on creative solutions.

• Solid understanding of transcriptomics including gene expression and splicing.

• Experience with sequence analysis tools and methods (eg. samtools, bwa, Picard, GATK)

• Proficient in programming languages Python and R, or expertise in at least two programming languages: (e.g. C/C++, Rust, Java, Python, R, Matlab)

• Familiarity with mathematical modeling (e.g. probabilistic graphical models, ML/AI, etc.).

• Excellent communicator in written and verbal form.

• Familiarity with genomics/transcriptomics/long-read sequencing data (Pacific Biosciences and/or Oxford Nanopore) is desirable but not required.

Qualifications

• A Masters Degree (or equivalent additional experience) and 3+ years of experience in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Biological Sciences, or a related field.

• Proven experience in the development of computational methods for use by others.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

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