Bioinformatics Scientist - Cape Town, South Africa - Watchmaker Genomics

Description

Responsibilities

• Contribute to a highly innovative and efficient R&D computational biology program
• Develop novel algorithms for the analysis of a wide variety of sequencing data sets
• Be a key contributor to a wellengineered and documented code base
• Produce code that is robust, automatable, and repeatable
• Contribute to strategies for efficient data analysis for the purpose of maximizing learning from new and historical datasets
• Perform ondemand data analyses in support of Watchmaker's product, sales, and marketing departments
• Identify opportunities for internal process improvement

Skills and Requirements

The following skills and experience are requirements:

• Proficiency in Python is required
• An understanding of source control using git is required
• A strong foundation in statistics is required
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work as an effective member of a goaloriented team
• Adept and creative problemsolving skills
• Ability to plan, build, troubleshoot and complete solutions to data analysis problems
• Excellent organizational skills and outstanding attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Adept at data wrangling

The following skills and experience are beneficial for the position:

• Familiarity with at least one statically typed languages such as C++, Java, or Rust
• An understanding of existing tools for sequencing data analysis
• Understanding of bioinformatics algorithms and best practices
• Ability to develop solutions using machine learning techniques
• A basic understanding of molecular biology techniques such as PCR and sequencing library preparation
• Familiarity with software testing frameworks
• Demonstrated ability to plan, build, troubleshoot and complete selfcreated software solutions to advanced data analysis problems, preferably including ML techniques.

Our stack

We utilize AWS for storage, compute, and other services, with Jenkins for CI/CD, Postgres as our flavor of db, Nextflow for pipelines, and Python as our main development language.

We use a combination of horizontal and vertical scaling as the need dictates. Version control is with git, and repos on GitHub.


Education

• An undergraduate degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, physics or related relevant fields is required.
• Relevant industry experience or relevant higher degrees (hons, M.Sc, Phd) are preferred.

Application Procedure

• Letter of motivation
• Resume or _Curriculum vitae_, highlighting relevant qualifications and experience

If selected to participate in the interview process, the names and contact information of three professional references who are able to assess your suitability for the position in terms of the specified requirements will be requested.

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WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER_

• Watchmaker Genomics is committed to being an equal opportunity employer and creating a culturally diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, or veteran status or any other characteristics as protected by applicable law._
• All applicants will be asked if currently eligible to work in South Africa; and if now or in the future will require visa sponsorship to continue working in South Africa._

Application Question(s):

• What do you think makes an effective Bioinformatics Scientist?
• How would you like to develop your professional and personal skills?