"Bioinformaticist/Bioinformatics Analyst II (Contractual)"

Job Description

The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) School of Medicine is now hiring a Bioinformaticist/ Bioinformatics Analyst II to join the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.

The Bioinformaticist/Bioinformatics Analyst II Accomplishes responsibilities by applying specialized and theoretical knowledge, principles, and concepts of a professional discipline normally acquired through advanced education or specialized training. Resolves issues and significant matters on behalf of management by utilizing independent judgment, discretion, creativity, and analytical thinking. Contributes to development and evaluation of goals and objectives. Creates solutions to ensure legal and policy compliance. May independently manage or administer programs, processes, projects, or resources. Applies intermediate level knowledge, concepts, principles, and skills. Decision making occurs within general guidelines and requires significant interpretation. Supervisor defines work guided by goals and objectives. Supervisor assists with unusual situations. Solutions require considerable analysis and evaluation of various alternatives. Independently anticipates needs and requirements to resolve non-routine matters.

The Bioinformaticist will be responsible for developing and maintaining Next Generation Sequencing data analysis workflows for use in a clinical diagnostic setting. This includes algorithms development as well as pipeline design. The Analyst, Bioinformatics II will also develop methods to perform benchmarking of tools and quality assessment of results. They will work closely with Developmental Scientists to build automated tests involving next-generation-sequencing. They will work closely with IT team, wet-laboratory scientists, and federal partners to integrate analysis pipelines and benchmarking analysis tools.

Benefits

Contingent Category II

UMB offers a comprehensive benefits package that prioritizes wellness, work/life balance, and professional development, along with additional exciting perks that employees can take advantage of. Contingent Category II staff receive a generous leave package that includes over 2 weeks of vacation each year, paid holidays, sick time, and time for community service; subsidized comprehensive health insurance and supplemental retirement options; professional learning and development programs; limited tuition remission for employees enrolled at UMB; life insurance and long-term disability; and flexible work schedules and teleworking options (if applicable per job).

UMB is a public university and constituent institution of the University System of Maryland. All employees are expected to work primarily physically within the State of Maryland.

Essential Functions and Primary Duties

• Develop algorithms and tools for analysis, benchmarking, and quality assessment of genomic data
• Develop and improve end-to-end genomics pipelines for clinical diagnostics
• Work closely with the genomic scientists to identify possible improvements to our analysis pipelines
• Stay up to date with the latest developments and best practices for NGS in clinical diagnostics
• Generate, annotate, gather or analyze data and prepare for further analysis
• Following established procedures or specific protocols, add value to data generated by surveillance system projects through assembly, annotation, curation, and quality assurance.
• Organize surveillance system data with other relevant data types into databases, displays, or graphic presentations for publication and web presentation
• Participate in multidisciplinary teams to ensure expert bioinformatics input in program and project development and implementation
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Bachelors in Life Sciences, including fields, i.e., Biology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Biochemistry, or Bioinformatics. Master's degree in a related field is preferred.

Experience: Two (2) years genomic research analysis experience in Windows and UNIX-based operating systems.

Preferred Experience: Experience in bioinformatics resources and tools such as BLAST, GITHUB, BWA, Clustalw, NCBI, EBI, Pfam, COG, etc. Previous experience working in a high-performance computing environment, cloud computing and Docker is a plus. Experience with NGS platforms and NGS analysis pipelines.

Other: Except for qualifications established by law, additional related experience and formal education in which one has gained the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for full performance of the work of the job class may be substituted for the education or experience requirement on a year-for-year basis with 30 undergraduate college credits being equivalent to one year of related experience. In instances where specific education and/or experience is required only directly related education and/or experience may be substituted.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of algorithmic techniques common to bioinformatics (e.g., dynamic programming and graph algorithms), machine learning and statistical analysis methods (e.g., Bayesian inference, Hidden Markov Models, Principal Component Analysis) with applications in NGS
• Proficient in Unix/Linux.
• Strong knowledge of R (Bioconductor) and a scripting language such as Python/Perl.
• Demonstrate initiative, strong attention to details, flexible and willing to multi-task in a rapidly evolving scientific context.
• Strong analytical abilities and communication skills.

Hiring Range

$90,000 - $110,000; Commensurate with education and experience