Associate Scientist, Bioinformatics - Harwell, United Kingdom - Vaccitech

Description

The role

• Reference based and de novo viral genome assembly, including assessing and filtering reads, and reporting quality of genome assembly
• Identifying variants in viral genomes relative to a reference genome, e.g. SNVs, indels, rearrangements, large deletions
• Assist in identifying vaccine targets and designing immunogens. Analyse pathogen sequences from databases for conservation, immunogenicity, and phylogenetic signals.
• Implement algorithms to improve expression, presentation, and processing of immunogens.
• Write clear records and documentation to make code reproducible and reusable.
• Keep up to date in the field of viral genome assembly, variant calling, and antigen design. Review and suggest new approaches and recommend improvements for current systems.
• Ensure that all activities comply with relevant quality standards and that all results produced are reviewed and presented appropriately.
• Participate in the development and conduct of laboratory meetings, and give presentations inside and outside the company as required.
• Attend at least one relevant scientific meeting per year to continue educational advancement.
• Perform other duties as required.

Experience and qualifications required

Essential

• Degree in STEM, bioinformatics or computer science with nextgeneration sequencing bioinformatics knowledge stemming from professional experience.
• Demonstrated familiarity with NGS analysis.
• Familiarity with public databases such as GenBank, IEDB.
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics tools e.g. BLAST.
• Using command line interfaces and scripting languages, e.g. python, bash, nextflow, R.
• A basic scientific understanding of molecular biology, virology, immunology.
• Excellent writing and communication skills; ability to understand and communicate scientific information.
• A selfstarter with the ability to work in a fastpaced environment and adapt quickly to changing needs and priorities; proven ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Desirable

• Masters in bioinformatics or equivalent industry experience.
• Experience in antigen selection and immunogen design
• Experience with epitope identification and prediction and working with epitope databases.

What we can offer you
Vaccitech is a great place to work. We encourage an entirely flat structure with an open door policy to the senior leadership team. Our employees agree the culture and working environment is one of the best things about our business.

This position would suit somebody who wishes to get wholly embedded with a single company and grow an internal medical writing function from the ground up.

As part of a small high growth business you will get the opportunity to be involved in many different areas and our rapid growth trajectory means you will have the opportunity to grow with us.

We offer flexible forms of hybrid working, stock options to all employees, 25 days annual holidays increasing with length of service, an AXA Healthcare plan, Life Insurance and up to 6% pension contributions matched by the company.

**Notice to recruiters