Principal Scientist, Bioinformatics

Nkartais a publicly traded (Nasdaq symbol NKTX), clinical‑stage biotechnology company headquartered in South San Francisco, focused on advancing the development of allogeneic, off‑the‑shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat autoimmune disease.

Founded in 2015, Nkarta is on a mission to harness the body’s natural killer cells – the immune system’s first responders – to deliver a safe, accessible form of cell therapy to treat B cell‑mediated autoimmune diseases. Our vision is to make cell therapy more broadly available to patients by pioneering allogeneic NK cells that can be dosed in outpatient, community health settings.

Nkarta’s engineering process enhances the natural ability of NK cells to fight disease by identifying and eliminating unhealthy cells, including malfunctioning B cells at the root of many autoimmune conditions. Our lead NK cell therapy candidate, NKX019, uses NK cells collected from healthy donors rather than burdening the patient with a blood collection. Using donor‑derived cells allows us to develop CAR NK cells off the shelf and on demand.

Nkarta is a people‑driven company looking for passionate, collaborative, determined team members galvanized by a paradigm‑shifting opportunity to change the cell therapy landscape.

Overview

Nkarta is seeking a highly motivated, collaborative, detail‑oriented Principal Scientist to join our Translational Medicine team. This is a high‑impact, hands‑on leadership role for a senior bioinformatics scientist. The successful candidate will have deep expertise in single‑cell and spatial omics technologies, along with experience in functional genomics and leading computational biology and/or bioinformatics programs in a biotech or pharmaceutical setting.

This individual will work collaboratively within Translational Medicine and cross‑functionally to advance, support, and execute biomarker discovery, mechanism‑of‑action (MOA) investigations, and translational data analysis from clinical samples. A central focus of this role is to drive and execute on Nkarta’s strategy for single‑cell and spatial transcriptomics, leveraging scRNA‑seq, spatial, and functional genomics approaches to drive translational insights, biomarker development, and clinical decision‑making in early development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and actively participate in the design and execution of computational strategies and hands‑on analysis of clinical and biological datasets to support go/no‑go decisions
• Hands‑on development and application of computational methods for single‑cell and spatial transcriptomics to generate actionable translational insights from clinical samples
• Establish scalable pipelines for multi‑modal data integration across programs
• Integrate and analyze functional genomics datasets (e.g., bulk RNA‑seq) to generate mechanistic insights that inform translational and clinical strategies
• Provide high‑impact analyses with direct influence on clinical decision‑making and visibility to senior leadership
• Collaborate with senior leadership to define priorities, allocate resources, and establish timelines aligned with company objectives
• Partner with experimental scientists to design studies leveraging advanced omics approaches and interpret results
• Ensure reproducibility, scalability, and data quality across bioinformatics pipelines
• Communicate complex findings effectively to scientific and non‑scientific stakeholders, including senior leadership

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in single‑cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis, including scRNA‑seq and related high‑dimensional omics datasets
• Strong experience analyzing functional genomics and transcriptomic data (e.g., bulk RNA‑seq, WES) to derive biological and translational insights
• Strong foundation in biological sciences, with experience or interest in immunology and disease biology
• Deep understanding of modern statistical and computational methods for high‑dimensional data analysis
• Proficiency in Python and/or R, with experience using relevant bioinformatics frameworks
• Experience developing and maintaining scalable data analysis pipelines and working with cloud‑based infrastructure (e.g., AWS)
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence cross‑functional stakeholders and translate complex data into clear, actionable insights
• Demonstrated experience managing external CROs and bioinformatics vendors
• Proven leadership experience, including mentoring and developing scientific teams
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills and ability to translate computational insights into biological and clinical impact
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast‑paced environment, with strong organizational skills and attention to detail

Education & Background

• PhD in Biological Sciences, Computational Biology, Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, Genomics, or a closely related discipline with 5+ years of industry experience.

Pay Range: $180,000 - $215,000 USD

Benefits

Annual discretionary bonus, equity grant(s), medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage, 401K plan, flexible spending account, ESPP, employee assistance program, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid parental, pregnancy, and bereavement leave.