"Senior Staff Scientist"

Overview

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent, nonprofit organization providing adult cancer treatment and groundbreaking research focused on cancer and infectious diseases. Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington.

With a track record of global leadership in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS prevention, immunotherapy and COVID-19 vaccines, Fred Hutch has earned a reputation as one of the world's leading cancer, infectious disease and biomedical research centers. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services, and network affiliations with hospitals in five states. Together, our fully integrated research and clinical care teams seek to discover new cures to the world's deadliest diseases and make life beyond cancer a reality.

At Fred Hutch we value collaboration, compassion, determination, excellence, innovation, integrity and respect. Our mission is directly tied to the humanity, dignity and inherent value of each employee, patient, community member and supporter. Our commitment to learning across our differences and similarities make us stronger. We seek employees who bring different and innovative ways of seeing the world and solving problems.

The Thomas lab in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division is seeking a Sr. Staff Scientist for its immune repertoire profiling efforts. The candidate will have experience in High Throughput Sequencing data analysis. Experience in immune repertoire data analysis is preferred but not required.

The individual will be responsible for a) sample selection and study design, b) experimental protocols for data generation, and c) data analysis specifically for lymphocyte TCR and BCR repertoire sequencing. Studies will be focused on primary human samples derived from blood or tissues in individuals with characterized infection or tumor histories. Using a combination of bioinformatic and computational approaches, we will integrate these data with other data and metadata obtained from the sample and individuals, including tumor mutation profiles, infection histories, serology, and other high resolution immune profiling. In addition to these core objectives, we will include analysis of valuable and clinically relevant sample sets such as HCT patients experiencing GVH, and aplastic anemia subjects.

In this position, you will develop novel computational tools to analyze TCR/BCR repertoire sequencing data & identify tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes with therapeutic potential. We are looking for a candidate experienced in High Throughput Sequencing data analysis and custom software development. You will also participate in programming robots to automate lab operations.

Responsibilities

• Provide research support and deliver high-quality results by formulating an efficient analytical approach with the available data.
• Deliver data files and document the analytical process. May participate in manuscript preparation at project's conclusion.
• Assist with establishing and documenting protocols or best practices for common research tasks, and in the formulation of analytical plans that use the best approach to address challenging data analysis questions.
• Assist in the evaluation and testing of new methods and technologies.
• Contribute ideas to automate or improve existing analysis methods. Implement the improvement or work with others to do so.
• Participate in the department's developmental projects and interdepartmental team projects.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• PhD with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven performance in a comparable role.
• Experience in experimental and computational analyses of immune receptor repertoires, including High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) library preparation protocol development and optimization, molecular cloning, and mammalian tissue culture.
• Driven individual capable of creative independent research, as demonstrated by first author publication(s) and presentations.
• Exceptional multi-tasking and project management skills.
• Superior written communication skills, as demonstrated by successful applications for external funding.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Significant experience in at least one programming or scripting language and at least one statistical package, with R preferred.
• Extensive experience training students and/or technicians in standard laboratory techniques is preferred.
• Experience working with relevant lab protocols.
• Prior experience in molecular biology/genomics/cancer biology/high-throughput sequencing.
• Well organized with strong attention to detail.
• A background in immune responses to infectious diseases.

The annual base salary range for this position is from $94,036 to $212,035, and pay offered will be based on experience and qualifications.

This position may be eligible for relocation assistance. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center offers employees a comprehensive benefits package designed to enhance health, well-being, and financial security. Benefits include medical/vision, dental, flexible spending accounts, life, disability, retirement, family life support, employee assistance program, onsite health clinic, tuition reimbursement, paid vacation (22 days per year), paid sick leave (up to 30 calendar days per occurrence of a qualifying reason), paid holidays (up to 13 days per year), paid parental leave (up to 4 weeks), and partially paid sabbatical leave (up to 12 months for professor track faculty, up to 6 months for other scientific staff).