Position Objective

You will be:

• Contributing to the new technology development within a multidisciplinary team of scientists focused on a single cell research
• Developing molecular tagging and barcoding designs to uniquely identify thousands of samples
• Designing oligos and primers to implement these designs in RT, amplification, barcoding reactions with whole transcriptomes
• Analyzing and troubleshooting NGS data, hidden biases, read structures to support experimental optimization and development of advanced molecular tagging and to provide constructive feedback to the bench scientists
• Developing new and customized NGS single cell analysis tools for internal R&D use and as part of customer-facing production software
• Proactively communicating across functions, especially with cell and molecular biologists to interpret sequence results, propose additional experiments, dynamically adjust designs to support the fast-paced development work
• Contributing to the development of customer-facing software, algorithms, visualization

Scope of Need

You will:

• Directly interact with senior R&D leadership, software, engineers, product and project management to develop and execute project plans that support product development initiatives towards analysis of the transcriptome at the single cell level
• Deliver on executing these plans according to a planned set of milestones, deliverables and timelines.
• Clearly present ideas, designs, algorithms and results to both experts and non-experts in the field
• Create intellectual property

Scientific leadership, significant independence, and strong teamwork are absolutely required.

This role may involve any of the following:

• Assay Design: Optimizing primer designs, RT and PCR reactions, sequencing approaches
• Sequencing Support: Developing a pipeline for assay design through analysis of RNAseq data

• Bioinformatics: Development of data analysis algorithms and tools
• Data Visualization: Developing “intuitive” methods for data visualization

Education:

A graduate degree in bioinformatics, physics, statistics, biological or computer sciences is a strong preference.

Direct experience with single cell data analysis is preferred.

Candidates with a bachelor’s degree and a relevant 7+ years of experience in industry will also be considered.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

You should have:

• A solid knowledge of next-generation sequencing analysis with a good understanding of software engineering and data analysis principles
• Experience with a custom NGS analysis and troubleshooting of NGS assay designs
• Understanding of the molecular and cellular biology associated with gene expression and sequencing
• Understanding and experience with primer design, PCR technology, and molecular barcoding methods
• Proficiency in Python, R and Shiny, Linux shell scripting. Experience with C++ and Java is a plus
• Background in statistics and experience with standard RNAseq libraries
• Direct experience with single cell transcriptomic analysis is preferred
• Strong communication skills and proficiency in scientific data presentation and visualization
• History of successful collaborative work with molecular biologists and technology development teams

Experience:

• Required: 3+ years of experience in bioinformatics or a related field
• Required: 2+ years of experience with next generation sequencing data analysis
• Preferred: 1+ years of experience with single cell sequencing or other single cell techniques

Working Conditions:

• Majority of working time will be spent designing strategies for sequence acquisition and analysis of whole transcriptomes from many single cells
• Significant collaboration between cell and molecular biologists to test designs, analyze and interpret results and change design based on that feedback
• Carrying out analysis of large RNAseq data sets
• Recording activities appropriately in notebooks
• Must be capable of observing and adhering to lab safety standards and protocols
• Must be able to identify deviations from expected outcomes and participate in trouble-shooting those deviations and suggesting alternatives
• Critical to success in this position will be the individual’s ability to work independently and to work as part of a high-performing team
• Must be able to work as part of a team in the laboratory (extended R&D team) and as part of a broader cross-functional team (R&D, Project Management, Product Management, Quality, Operations, Marketing, Commercial)