Postdoctoral Bioinformatician
Full Time
University of Melbourne
Job Description
• Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN)
• Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50
• Bioinformatic Lead role, collaborating with multi-disciplinary research team
• Work in world class state-of-the-art research facilities at BASE
• Based at vibrant St Lucia Campus
About UQ
As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.
As part of our commitment to research excellence, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and post-fellowship contracts via our UQ Amplify initiative.
At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. Not only do we have one of the largest PhD enrolments in Australia, but we have also made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.
About This Opportunity
The BASE facility and Mercer lab at the University of Queensland is seeking an experienced bioinformatician (Academic Level B) to join a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and industry partners to develop an Oxford Nanopore sequencing test of mRNA vaccine quality.
You will be bioinformatic lead in a project that aims to develop an ONT sequencing based test of mRNA vaccine quality, for use in mRNA vaccine manufacturing. As an expert in bioinformatic pipeline and development, you will be responsible for read quality evaluation, mapping, and variant analysis during test development and validation. You will work with BASE and ONT Molecular Biologists and Bioinformaticians to design custom software that comprehensively analyses mRNA vaccine quality, purity and integrity.
You will have a proven track record in the analysis of a range of Oxford Nanopore sequencing data types using different bioinformatic tools, and developing custom software where required for new analyses.
You will be provided with a competitive salary, access to world-class facilities, and the opportunity to work on a project that has the potential to revolutionise the quality analysis of mRNA vaccines. You will work with our industry partner, Oxford Nanopore, and collaborate with the BASE facility at the University of Queensland.
Key responsibilities will include:
Research
• Analyse Oxford Nanopore DNA and RNA sequencing data generated from mRNA vaccines and their plasmid templates, to determine the accuracy, precision, sensitivity and robustness of these methods.
• Develop, optimize, and maintain software tools for analysing Oxford Nanopore sequencing data in the context of mRNA vaccine manufacture and quality control.
• Work closely with the laboratory team at the BASE facility, understanding their analytical manufacturing requirements, and translating these into software and analytical requirements.
• Manage the complete software lifecycle, including programming, testing, documentation, versioning, and distribution.
• Provide software tools to our industry partners and provide technical and installation support for the software.
• Contribute to the preparation of manuscripts for publication, technical reports, and other research-related documents.
• Design and maintain robust data management systems, ensuring secure storage and efficient retrieval of large NGS datasets. Supervision and Researcher Development
• Demonstrate a track record of the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students.
• Demonstrates personal effectiveness in supervision and management and development of researcher capability and skill.
• Facilitate engagement opportunities for Higher Degree by Research supervisees
• Effective lead and develop supervisee performance and conduct by providing feedback, coaching, and professional development.
• Manage staff effectively throughout the employee lifecycle in accordance with University policy and procedures.
• Working to promptly resolve conflict and grievances when they arise in accordance with University policy and procedures. Citizenship and Service
• Demonstrate behaviours that align to the UQ values.
• Shows leadership of self and others through mentoring, collaboration and active participation in priority activities for the unit
• Provide support to other academic positions and unit operations as needed during other team members absences.
• Effectively and efficiently manage internal service roles and administrative processes as required, including participation in decision-making and service on relevant committees.
• Collaborate in service activities external to the immediate organisation unit.
• Actively pursue and develop external links and partnerships by cultivating relationships with industry, government departments, professional bodies and the wider community.
This is a research-focused academic position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance.
This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position through to 31 November 2024 at Academic Level B. The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $104,579.67 – $124,187.99, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $ 122,358.21 – $145,299.95 annually.
The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.
About the BASE Facility
The BASE Facility, situated at the Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) within the University of Queensland, St Lucia campus, is a not-for-profit NCRIS facility dedicated to advancing academic and translational research throughout Australia. Our mission at BASE is to empower scientists with high-quality mRNA for translational use in discovery, development, and pre-clinical work. We offer a comprehensive end-to-end service, including mRNA design, final formulation, and industry-leading analytics, to facilitate the development of cutting-edge treatments for patients. By providing unparalleled research and production capabilities, we are committed to advancing the fields of bioengineering and nanotechnology, while delivering tangible benefits to the Australian community.
About You
• An MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Bioinformatics or a related field.
• Experience in the analysis of a range of different Oxford Nanopore sequencing datasets, using different ONT bioinformatic tools.
• A history of involvement in the full experimental process, from project inception, and analysis to publication.
• Proven experience in software development in a bioinformatics or genomics setting.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, C++, or Java.
• Familiarity with software versioning tools (e.g., Git) and software lifecycle management.
• Experience in writing software documentation that can be understood by non-specialist users.
• Ability to work collaboratively with laboratory team members to continually refine experimental and analytical approaches.
• Demonstrated ability to produce high quality results and meet strict deadlines, without compromising accuracy and attention to detail.
• Knowledge or interest in mRNA vaccine manufacturing.
Desirable:
• Experience in the analysis of Oxford Nanopore direct RNA sequencing data.
• Experience or interest in Machine Learning in the context of biological data.
In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:
• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.
• Mandatory Immunisations: It is a condition of employment for this role that you will be required to provide evidence of immunisation against certain vaccine preventable diseases.
Questions?
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dr Helen Gunter – [email protected] For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
Want to Apply? All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:
• Resume
• Cover letter
• Responses to the ‘About You’ section
Please note that you will be asked to add all documents into the one upload box labelled ‘resume’, which is step one of the application form.
Other Information
At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion. We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in our broader community, whether that be gender identity, LGBTQIA+, cultural and/or linguistic, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, or people with a disability. Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected]
If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.
Tagged as: Director of Bioinformatics
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