Lead Genomic Data Scientist - Cancer

Genomics England partners with the NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. We also equip researchers to find the causes of disease and develop new treatments – with patients and participants at the heart of it all.

Our mission is to continue refining, scaling, and evolving our ability to enable others to deliver genomic healthcare and conduct genomic research.

We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.

Our Lead Genomic Data Scientist is an experienced leader, well embedded in the cancer research community in the UK and internationally.

With strong competences in cancer genomics, algorithms for whole genome analysis, interpretation and data science.

Through proactive collaborations and agile practices, the Lead position brings technical leadership and people management capacity to pioneer the use of long read whole genome sequencing in healthcare.

Based on a solid understanding of biomedical challenges and high-quality code, the Lead position directly contributes to the development of solutions and products that address the needs of our stakeholders.

Everyday responsibilities include:

• Provide technical and scientific leadership in the areas of Cancer Genome Analysis at the chapter and squad levels
• Manage, coach and mentor direct reports
• Development, implementation, and constant improvement of best practices for genome analysis at Genomics England
• Driving end-to-end projects including planning, stakeholder engagement, problem solving, arriving to conclusions, documentation
• Benchmarking and improving tools for processing, analysis and interpretation of whole genome data (e.g. alignment, variant callers, annotation, interpretation, quality control).
• Ensure high relevance and excellent standards of genomic analysis.

Skills and Experience for Success

We anticipate the ideal candidate will have:

Extensive experience in cancer genomics, approaches to call somatic variation and emerging pan-genomic markers & clinical interpretation of cancer genomes

Significant experience in leading a cross-functional analytical team in academic or industry environment.

Up-to-date knowledge of tools and advances used in the bioinformatics and more generally machine learning applied to molecular oncology challenges.

Highly proficient in programming i.e Python

You will also have a deep knowledge of key standards, data sources and tool chains used in NGS and clinical genomics and be familiar with long read sequencing technologies, analytical algorithms and applications which is highly advantageous.

PhD degree or equivalent practical experience in academic or commercial settings.

Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including:

• 30 days’ holiday (plus bank holidays), with additional days for long service awards
• A generous pension scheme of up to 15% combined contribution
• Individual learning budgets for every colleague, a Blinkist account and a wide variety of courses on our portal
• A wide variety of wellness benefits including Gympass, a Headspace account, free weekly Yoga classes
• Enhanced maternity & paternity benefits
• Blended working arrangements

Talk to our Talent Team and find out how a career with Genomics England will benefit you.