Junior Bioinformatician – Computational Protein Design and Software Infrastructure

Centre for Genomic Regulation; Barcelona; On-site; EUR 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain, invites a junior bioinformatician to support computational protein design and software infrastructure. You will work closely with researchers and collaborators on concrete group needs, performing model benchmarking and automation tasks within a dynamic, international team.

The role emphasizes technical support over research training, offering a one-year contract and opportunities to contribute to FoldX, AlphaFold, and structural

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in bioinformatics or related field required.
• Fluent in English (spoken and written).
• Strong Python and Linux command line skills.
• Willingness to learn C++ and build tools on the job.

Responsibilities

• Validate diffusion model benchmarks for peptide generation and report results.
• Automate molecule parameterisation in FoldX with scripts and pipelines.
• Maintain and distribute software infrastructure, including multi-platform FoldX builds.

Skills

Protein structure

Python

Linux CLI

C++ on job

Git

CMake/Make

HPC clusters

Structural modelling tools

ML models

SQL

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in bioinformatics or related field

Tools

FoldX

AlphaFold

Rosetta

Job description

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Junior Bioinformatician – Computational Protein Design and Software Infrastructure

The Institute

The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence, based in Barcelona, Spain, with more than 400 scientists from 44 countries. The CRG is composed by an interdisciplinary, motivated and creative scientific team which is supported both by a flexible and efficient administration and by high-end and innovative technologies.

We are looking for a highly motivated junior bioinformatician to support the computational protein design work of the Design of Biological Systems group (Dr. Luis Serrano) and its software infrastructure. This is a technical support role rather than a research training position: the bioinformatician will work on concrete group needs, in close collaboration with researchers, PhD students and experimental collaborators.

Main responsibilities:

• Validation of a diffusion model for peptide generation: run benchmarks, compare generated peptides using structural and energetic criteria (FoldX, AlphaFold3, Boltz) and report results to the team.
• Automation of molecule parameterisation in FoldX: develop and maintain scripts and pipelines that generate FoldX parameters for new small molecules and non-standard residues.
• Software maintenance and distribution: take charge of compiling, maintaining and version-controlling the group’s development and distribution infrastructure, including FoldX (multiplatform builds, dependency updates, portable binaries and release support).

About the team

Our group aims to quantitatively understand biological systems and to rationally design and modify their behaviour. We develop software that spans biological databases to structural modelling at the atomic level, including the FoldX suite (foldxsuite.crg.es) and ModelX (modelx.crg.es). We combine these computational tools with experiments to validate our predictions.

Whom would we like to hire?

Professional experience

Must Have

• You have a basic understanding of protein structure and structural biology
• You have working knowledge of Python and of the Linux command line

Desirable but not required/ Nice to have

• C++ programming, or willingness to learn it on the job
• Version control (Git) and build tools (CMake, Make, compilers on Linux and macOS)
• Experience with HPC clusters and job schedulers
• Experience with structural modelling tools (FoldX, AlphaFold, Boltz, Rosetta or similar)
• Experience running or evaluating machine-learning models
• SQL databases

Education and training

• You hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Computer Science or a related field

Languages

• You are fluent in English, spoken and written

Technical skills

• You can write and maintain scripts that automate computational workflows

Competences

• Highly developed organisational skills
• Reliability and attention to detail
• Ability to document your work clearly
• Team player in an interdisciplinary environment

The Offer – Working Conditions

• Contract duration: Technical and scientific activities contract linked to the project (with an estimated duration of 1 year).
• Estimated annual gross salary: Salary is commensurate with qualifications and consistent with our pay scales.
• Target start date: January 2026.

We provide a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructures, and unique professional career development opportunities. To check out our training and development portfolio, please visit our website in the training section .

We offer and promote a diverse and inclusive environment and welcomes applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The CRG is committed to reconcile a work and family life of its employees and are offering extended vacation period and the possibility to benefit from flexible working hours.

Funded by the European Union (ERC, SafeDelivery, Grant Agreement Nº 101266773)”