Hybrid Microbial Genomes Bioinformatician

European Molecular Biology Laboratory; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Relocation package

Private medical insurance

30 days annual leave

Job summary

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EBI) seeks a skilled bioinformatician to develop and maintain genome resources for microbial research in the Ensembl Microbes team. You will work with bioinformaticians, software engineers and project leaders across Ensembl to expand microbial genome representations and ensure reliable data delivery.

The Microbiome Informatics team leads collaboration on datasets and methods, reporting to the Microbial Genomes Project Lead.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in bioinformatics, biology, computer science or related field.
• Proficiency with prokaryotic and/or microbial biology.
• Production-quality Python programming.
• Experience building pipelines with Nextflow or Snakemake.
• Experience with relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL), UNIX/Linux, and HPC/cloud environments.
• Familiarity with FASTA/GFF3 formats and genome analysis tools.
• Experience with Git and code reviews; knowledge of testing practices.
• Awareness of AI-assisted coding tools and evaluation of outputs.
• Excellent written and spoken English skills.

Responsibilities

• Maintain Ensembl microbial genomes, load new annotations, ensure correct data presentation, and resolve issues promptly.
• Coordinate releases in a release-based environment with other subteams.
• Assess new genome annotation tools specific to microbial taxa.
• Contribute to functional annotation pipelines and their representation in Ensembl.
• Design, build and test solutions to improve efficiency.
• Create and maintain up-to-date documentation.
• Contribute to code reviews and team discussions.
• Collaborate with EMBL-EBI groups and external collaborators.

Skills

Python

Nextflow

Snakemake

MySQL

PostgreSQL

UNIX

HPC

Cloud

FASTA

GFF3

Git

AI coding

English

Education

Master’s degree in bioinformatics or related field

Tools

Git

Job description

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EBI) seeks a skilled bioinformatician to develop and maintain genome resources for microbial research in the Ensembl Microbes team. You will work with bioinformaticians, software engineers and project leaders across Ensembl to expand microbial genome representations and ensure reliable data delivery.

The Microbiome Informatics team leads collaboration on datasets and methods, reporting to the Microbial Genomes Project Lead.