Bioinformatics Engineer

• Starting compensation: $110,000 to $150,000, depending on experience
• Work location: In-person in Cambridge, MA

The role

The Nucleic Acid Observatory is building a pathogen-agnostic early warning system to protect the world from catastrophic pandemics. As advances in biotechnology lower the barriers to engineering pathogens, our mission is to ensure humanity’s detection and alert systems are ready. As part of this mission, we operate a pilot biosurveillance network that performs weekly metagenomic sequencing of wastewater and nasal swabs to screen for engineered threats.

We’re looking for a Bioinformatics Engineer to scale, extend, and automate our computational infrastructure for sequence analysis and evaluation. A high-performing hire will take ownership of large parts of our development roadmap, building and maintaining systems responsible for processing tens of billions of sequencing reads per week. An ideal candidate for this position will have a strong grounding in both general data-oriented software engineering and subject-specific bioinformatics; however, we’re open to candidates with a very strong background in only one or the other who are excited by our mission and motivated to learn new skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, maintain, and operate bioinformatic analysis pipelines for high-throughput analysis of metagenomic biosurveillance data;
• Design and validate computational methods for identifying concerning sequences in sequencing data;
• Develop AI-based tools for automated analysis and prioritization of concerning sequences;
• Implement and maintain best practices for multi-person computational projects, including reproducibility, version control, testing, and documentation.

Competencies and qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience;
• 2+ years of professional experience in industry or academia;
• Demonstrated expertise in at least three of the following: Bioinformatic analysis of complex sequencing data, such as metagenomics or transcriptomics; General-purpose programming in multiple relevant languages, especially Python, Groovy, R, and/or Rust; Data analysis and visualization; Effective and creative use of modern AI-driven coding tools; Cloud computing and infrastructure management with AWS; Biological and bioinformatic applications of deep learning; Workflow orchestration and pipeline management, especially with Nextflow; Containerization for reproducible environment management; Excellent written and oral communication abilities; Discreet & trustworthy with confidential or sensitive information.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience;
• 4+ years of professional experience in industry;
• Experience working effectively with wet-lab researchers;
• Specific expertise in viral metagenomics, wastewater sequencing, and/or pathogen surveillance.

Salary and benefits

This is a full-time, in-person role, reporting to senior NAO computational staff in our Cambridge, Massachusetts office. The starting salary range is $110,000 to $150,000 per annum, depending on prior experience. There may be flexibility in salary for exceptional candidates with significant relevant experience.

Our employee benefits reflect our belief in investing to build the strongest possible team, in which everyone receives the trust and support they need to excel. Our benefits package includes:

Comprehensive healthcare coverage, including health, dental & vision insurance, as well as a yearly mental health allowance for every employee.

Flexible work hours; unlimited paid time off (PTO) for all employees; and minimum 12 weeks fully-paid parental leave.

Generous professional development opportunities, including fully-paid conference sponsorships and a yearly development allowance for every employee.

401(k)

Employer 401(k) match up to 4% of total salary.

Application process

We will review applications on a rolling basis, and are looking for someone to start as soon as possible.

After considering your written application, we may invite you to a short screening interview. High-performing candidates may be invited to further interviews, followed by an in-person work trial in our Cambridge, MA office. We will also require two to three reference checks.

We’re committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from women, gender minorities, and people of color who are excited about contributing to our mission, and are happy to consider applicants from overseas. We’re an equal opportunity employer.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io

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Referral bonus

We offer a referral bonus of up to $4,500 to individuals who refer successful candidates for this position:

To receive these bonuses, we must reasonably believe that you were responsible for referring the candidate to us (e.g.due to you introducing them to us when we didn’t previously know them, or them mentioning you on their application as the reason they heard about the position).

• If you refer a candidate that we invite to a technical interview, you will receive $100;
• If you refer a candidate that we invite to an in-person work trial, you will receive a further $500, for a total of $600;
• If the candidate accepts a job offer from us, you will receive a further $1700, for a total of $2,300;
• If the candidate is still working with us after three months, you will receive a further $2,200, for a total of $4,500.