"HMS - Research Associate in SBGrid, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology"

Position Description

We invite applications for a Research Associate position in SBGrid at Harvard Medical School. This annually appointed academic role advances discovery in structural biology by curating, validating, and benchmarking the software that underpins structure determination. You will collaborate with investigators and SBGrid engineers to design scientifically grounded tests, codify reproducible environments, and drive community standards, leveraging Python and shell scripting to automate builds, packaging, and CI/CD. You will contribute to methods, training, and publications that strengthen computational rigor across cryo-EM, crystallography, NMR, and related modalities.

SBGrid is a research software platform and global consortium in Harvard Medical School's Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. We build, install, and rigorously curate 600+ encapsulated, ready-to-run applications spanning crystallography, cryo-EM, NMR, visualization, computational chemistry, and supporting tools, delivered across on-premises and cloud environments for hundreds of laboratories worldwide. Our Capsule Software Execution Environment ("Capsules") isolates every application with its exact dependencies, providing zero-configuration, conflict-free execution on 64-bit Linux and Intel/ARM macOS. The collection includes 56,000+ executables, 510,000+ dynamic libraries, and a mix of open-source and academic licenses, with 220+ titles under OSI licenses; our unified licensing streamlines research use. SBGrid releases updates monthly and maintains a modular installation manager that now supports thousands of active installations (3,752 at last count), enabling seamless, secured updates for labs and individual users alike. The platform advances FAIR/FAIR4RS software goals and reproducible research across heterogeneous systems; our BioGrids collection extends these methods beyond structural biology to 700+ computational biology titles.

With this appointment, you are represented by the Harvard Academic Workers (HAW) - UAW for purposes of collective bargaining and matters affecting your compensation and working conditions.

This is a position that is based at a Harvard campus location with some remote work options available. Additional details will be discussed during the interview process. All remote work must be performed within one of the Harvard Registered Payroll States, which currently includes Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Washington, and California (CA for exempt positions only). Certain visa types and funding sources may limit work location. Individuals must meet work location sponsorship requirements prior to employment.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD-trained structural biologist with 2 more years of hands-on experience in CryoEM workflows and analysis.
• 3 years of experience working in Unix-like environments (Linux/macOS) and command line.

Additional Qualifications

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex concepts with clarity and precision in a fast-paced, dynamic environment (e.g. demonstrated through scientific publications).
• Proven effectiveness in cross-functional collaboration and project management.
• Demonstrated programming proficiency in Python and strong scripting skills (Bash/shell).
• Hands-on experience with structure determination software supporting X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron tomography (CryoET).
• Familiarity with molecular dynamics simulations and macromolecular docking tools is highly desirable.
• Packaging and environment management (Conda/venv); containers (Docker/Singularity); CI/CD; build systems (CMake); version control (Git).
• High-Performance Computing schedulers (e.g., Slurm); cloud familiarity.
• Bonus: one or more compiled/scientific languages (C/C++/Fortran/Julia/R) and experience hardening/optimizing research pipelines.

Special Instructions

Required documents:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter
• Names and contact information for three people who have agreed to serve as your reference (Upload as "Note" document type)

Please submit application documents through the ARIeS portal. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Selected candidates will be invited for in-person interviews.

Expected Dates

• Start date: The position is expected to start as soon as possible.
• Duration: This is a one-year term position from the date of hire, with the possibility of extension, contingent upon work performance, business need, and continued funding to support the position.

Contact Information

Piotr Sliz
250 Longwood Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Contact Email: sliz@hkl.hms.harvard.edu