"Postdoctoral Research Associate"

Grade and salary: Grade 8 £46,735 – £59,139 pa

Working hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Tenure: Preferred start date June 2025 - the post is available until April 2028

Location: Liverpool campus

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour

Recruiting department contact: iveshr@liverpool.ac.uk

Informal enquiries contact: Mark.Viney@liverpool.ac.uk

Job ref: 093233

The role

Role overview and University context:

This role is part of a collaborative project between the UK, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia investigating anthelminthic resistance in soil-transmitted helminths, particularly hookworms, in Southeast Asia. The programme of work is jointly funded by UKRI and national funding agencies in the Philippines and Indonesia. This project will first measure responses to drug treatment in multiple sites in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, particularly comparing sites with and without the mass administration of anthelmintic drugs. The project will then use whole genome sequencing of hookworms to investigate the population genetic effect of mass drug administration, and to seek to investigate the genetic basis of hookworm anthelmintic resistance.

In this role, you will develop bioinformatics pipelines for the sequence data generated, lead the bioinformatic analyses with colleagues in Southeast Asia, and provide training and support to bioinformaticians in Southeast Asia. You will be based in Liverpool, but will also work closely with the Wellcome Sanger Institute near Cambridge, and in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

This role would be ideal for someone who has bioinformatic and project management experience and who is interested in applying this to the human health challenges of soil-transmitted helminths and other neglected tropical diseases. In this role, you would be proactive in leading and building bioinformatics capacity for a diverse team of researchers but also be able to work effectively independently and remotely. The post is available for up to three years from April 2025.

Key responsibilities and duties:

• To develop bioinformatics pipelines for the analysis of hookworm genome sequence data.

• Lead analyses investigating hookworm population genetics, particularly with respect to anthelmintic resistance.

• Train and support Southeast Asia-based bioinformaticians in the use of the pipelines and analyses.

• To manage, quality control, and archive sequence data generated from across this project.

Additional requirements:

• Weekend work and working overseas will be required.

• Although the university has a hybrid working system, the expectation is that the applicant appointed to this role will work more than 50% on campus.

In addition to the above, all University of Liverpool staff are required to:

• Adhere to all University policies and procedures, completing all obligatory training and induction modules, including Equality & Diversity and Health & Safety.

• Respect confidentiality: all confidential information should be kept in confidence and not released to unauthorised persons.

• Participate in the University’s Professional Development Review scheme and take a proactive approach to own professional development.

• Demonstrate customer service excellence in dealing with all stakeholders.

• Embody and uphold the University’s Vision and Values.

About you

Experience

Essential

1. Experience with bioinformatic analysis of high-throughput sequence data.
2. Experience in training others in bioinformatics.
3. Coding, specifically in UNIX environments and either Python or R languages.
4. Experience of working effectively within a team.
5. Excellent record keeping and data management.

Desirable

1. Experience of population genomic analyses and data interpretation.
2. Experience working with helminths.
3. Experience at developing bioinformatic pipelines.
4. Experience of working effectively within a team split over different time zones.

Education, qualifications and training

Essential

1. A PhD or equivalent research degree in a relevant Biological or Life Sciences subject area.

Desirable

1. A teaching qualification and/or accreditation.
2. Data standards training and qualification and/or accreditation.

Skills, general and specialist knowledge

Essential

1. Project planning and management.
2. Data management and quality control.
3. Oral and written presentation of results and successful publication of research.

Personal attributes

Essential

1. To be self-motivated and organised with an attention to detail.
2. Excellent interpersonal skills in culturally diverse settings.
3. Ability to work individually and to be a team member.
4. Resilient, adaptable, motivated.
5. Ability to travel to and work in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries as required.

About us

Established in 1881, we are an internationally renowned Russell Group university recognised for our high-quality teaching and research. We are consistently ranked as one of the best universities both nationally and globally, and the majority of our research is rated world leading or internationally excellent. Find out more about us.

Why work here

We recognise, appreciate and celebrate the incredible work our staff do every day. As well as generous terms and conditions, we offer a range of enviable benefits and provide support for colleague’s wellbeing and development. Discover more about working here.

Moving from abroad

As a global institute, we welcome applicants from all nationalities, moving from a different country can be challenging and we would like to help as much as we can. We have put together some information on eligibility to work documentation, accommodation, schools, healthcare, life in Liverpool and the UK as well as other practical information. Discover more about moving from abroad.

Our staff

Whether it be their friendly colleagues, supportive managers or our outstanding facilities, our staff can explain better than anyone what it is like to work for us and why they enjoy their role. See what our colleagues have to say.

How to apply

Application process

Our e-recruitment system enables you to register for an online account, where you can view, copy and edit your applications. Set up your account on our Vacancies Portal.

Once you submit your application you will receive an automatic email acknowledgment. You can view your application at any time by clicking into the application history section of your account.

The recruiting department will endeavour to respond to each application. However, if you have not heard within six weeks of the closing date, please take it that your application has not been successful on this occasion.

Job description

After the closing date this job description will be removed from our website. Should you wish to refer to this information at a later date please ensure you save a copy of this document.

Right to work

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that you have the right to work in the UK before you can start working for us. If you do not have the right to work in the UK already, any offer of employment we make to you will be conditional upon you gaining it. The UKVI have an interactive tool allowing you to immediately see if vacancies are eligible for a Skilled Worker visa.

You will need to know the SOC code for the role. View our most used SOC codes. If none of these apply to this role, there are more codes on the eligibility checker.

Disabilities and alternative formats

If you have any other requirements which will help you access the application or interview process or employment opportunities at the University, or if you require copies of documentation in alternative formats, please email: jobs@liverpool.ac.uk or telephone 0151 794 6771.