Senior Scientist - Bioinformatics

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Background

Sygnature Discovery is a world-leading integrated drug discovery Contract Research Organisation based in the UK and Canada with its headquarters in Nottingham and additional facilities in Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Glasgow, Montreal and Quebec City. Its staff of over 1,000, which includes 900 scientists, partners with global pharma, biotech and NFP organisations.

Since 2004, Sygnature Discovery has delivered over 40 novel pre-clinical and 22 clinical compounds, with its scientists named on over 170 patents. Therapeutic areas of expertise include oncology, inflammation and immunology, neuroscience, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, fibrotic diseases and more. To find out more, please visit www.sygnaturediscovery.com.

About the role

As part of our team, you will work within an established team in the bioinformatics group to support our increasing needs for drug discovery projects. This is an exciting role to work with both clients and Sygnature scientists on establishing informatics solutions to support drug discovery data platforms and procedures.

But why work for us?

• Scientists at Sygnature Discovery are at the forefront of our scientific research work, driving projects with the latest scientific software and cloud-based technology, solving challenging problems for our clients.
• You will be part of an expanding group at the forefront of applying new software and techniques to drug discovery projects.
• You will have the opportunity to work alongside our dedicated team of scientists with extensive experience in every stage of the drug discovery process.
• Our global clients range from big pharma and biotechs to academic and charitable organisations.
• Transparency with clients - our clients like to know the entire team, so there's an expectation you will present your work at meetings and represent the company.
• Teamwork and communication are as important as the science we do - how we interact and communicate with our clients is part of our success.
• We foster a culture of collective responsibility and communal working. If you're challenged by a problem, your project team, department and the company will support you to find a solution.
• You will develop drug discovery knowledge by formal training, conference attendance and project experience.
• We want you to have a long and rewarding career at Sygnature. We can offer a challenging, stimulating and fulfilling role in a sociable team that's passionate about drug discovery. It's an extremely motivating and humbling experience to discover a lifesaving drug.

The Opportunity:

• Provide bioinformatics support and data-driven target/biomarker analysis to answer clinical questions (e.g., causal network analysis, disease driving gene/pathway identification).
• Perform differential gene expression (bulk RNA-seq, single cell RNA-seq, etc.) and proteomics data (MS) analyses.
• Use R/Python to develop models and to perform analyses.
• Perform exploratory data analysis and writing reports to communicate results internally and with the clients.
• Develop and manage bioinformatics pipelines (e.g., NGS processing, database parsing, etc.)
• Contribute to internal capability building (e.g., database development, bioinformatics tool development, etc.)
• Support internal projects by providing scientific advice and guidance.
• Lead and manage analyses for various projects.
• Mentor junior team members and take part in ensuring a friendly and supportive research environment.

Key Requirements:

• Proficiency in Python and R programming languages.
• Experience with Linux operating systems and BASH scripting.
• Experience with Big data analytics and associated frameworks such as Big Query, and mySQL. Knowledge of SQL is a plus.
• Experience in HPC frameworks (AWS, GCP, etc.) for data analytics and MLOps.
• Experience with workflow management such as Nextflow, and snakemake.
• Proven bioinformatics experience to answer clinical questions such as causal network analysis and to perform perturbation analyses such as disease driving gene/pathway identification, and DEG analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in working with NGS (bulk RNA-seq, single cell RNA-seq) and proteomics data (MS) to deconvolute biological processes.
• Experience in developing and managing bioinformatics pipelines
• A strong quantitative understanding in relevant statistical models (exposure to Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is a plus)
• Hands-on experience in exploratory data analysis for bioinformatics (data cleaning, bias exploration, outlier detection, etc.)

Benefits

Here at Sygnature Discovery, we take pride in offering an excellent training and benefits package. As a valued employee, you will be entitled to:

- 25 days annual leave (rising with service) plus bank holidays, and buy/sell scheme

- Private Medical Insurance

- Life Insurance

- Employee Assistance Programme and mental health first aiders

- Enhanced Family Friendly Policies

- Sygnature Group Pension Scheme

- 1 paid volunteer day per year

- A host of flexible benefits to support your wellbeing and lifestyle

Why Sygnature Discovery

We understand the importance of creating a work environment that empowers you to thrive. That's why we have fostered a culture of collaboration and support, providing pathways for both professional and personal development. This includes a diverse range of bespoke training and development designed to accelerate both your personal and career growth.

We are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion throughout our organisation. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, neurodiversity, age, family or parental status, beliefs, nationalities and religions. We strive to cultivate an inclusive environment where all our colleagues feel empowered to bring their true selves to work.

If you're interested in joining a company that places people at the heart of its business, please submit your application as soon as possible as we will be interviewing on an ongoing basis.

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at careers@sygnaturediscovery.com. Please do not submit your application to this email address.

For more information on life at Sygnature Discovery, visit www.sygnaturediscovery.com/careers