Principal Bioinformatician

Karlstad University; Hinxton; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 63,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research institute in Hinxton is seeking a Principal Bioinformatician to drive bioinformatics integration for microbial genomics. The candidate will lead data assembly and develop open-source tools to advance both fundamental science and public health applications. This role is for highly motivated individuals with a proven track record in bioinformatics and large-scale data analysis, offering a salary range of £53,717 to £63,000 depending on experience.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable bioinformatics experience in academic environments.
• Proven experience in managing large-scale sequencing data.
• Experience leading community engagement and training activities.

Responsibilities

• Lead data assembly, annotation, and quality control for microbial genomes.
• Design and improve pipelines for microbial genomics research.
• Collaborate with research teams for data interpretation.

Skills

Expertise in bioinformatics

Experience with microbial genomics

Large-scale data analysis

Open-source tool development

Collaboration skills

Education

Ph.D. or M.Sc. in relevant disciplines

Tools

Python

C++

Docker

Nextflow

minimap2

Bowtie2

SPAdes

Job description

Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life‑changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges.

The Principal Bioinformatician will lead the strategic development and integration of bioinformatics resources to advance microbial genomics for both fundamental science and public health applications. This will include leading the transformation of the AllTheBacteria into a collaborative hub that supports both fundamental science and public health applications.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the cutting edge of microbiome science, ensuring the resources developed can directly support science and public health needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead, oversee, develop and maintain data assembly, annotation, and quality control for microbial genomes.
• Design, maintain, and improve pipelines and tools supporting microbial genomics research and usability for public health.
• Lead development of scalable, open‑source software for genome assembly, variant calling, and data visualisation.
• Collaborate with programme dry and wet‑lab team members to facilitate data interpretation, share knowledge and discuss analysis ideas.
• Develop and run hackathons and training sessions at the end of workshops, e.g. EBI training suite after ABPHM, Big data/AMR.
• Develop training materials to increase adoption in research and public health.
• Build collaborations with developers to expand analysis and web‑based tools.
• Building and maintaining collaborations with external stakeholders, contributing to joint research projects.

About You

We are looking for a highly motivated computational scientist with expertise in microbial genomics and bioinformatics. You should be passionate about microbiome data analysis, have experience working with large‑scale datasets, and be comfortable in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

About Us

This position is based in the Bacterial Genomics and Evolution team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, a world‑leading research group investigating the use of computational and experimental genomic approaches to explore questions of basic science relating to the evolution and spread of bacterial pathogens in both humans and animals.

This role provides an exciting opportunity to work in a world‑class genomics institute, engaging in high‑impact microbiome research that contributes to human health and disease prevention.

Essential Technical Skills

• Ph.D. or M.Sc. in relevant quantitative disciplines or equivalent experience
• Demonstrable bioinformatics working experience in scientific or academic environments
• Extensive proven experience in bioinformatics, microbial genomics, and large‑scale sequencing data in different formats including data cleaning and feature engineering.
• Proven track record of open‑source tool development (Python, C++, Go, Nextflow).
• Expertise with large‑scale compute environments (LSF, SLURM, Docker/Singularity).
• Experienced in evaluating existing tools, and developing new tools where needed based on the needs of downstream analysis
• Expertise range of Bioinformatics tools including mappers/aligners (minimap2, Bowtie2, MUMmer etc), assemblers (SPAdes, Unicycler etc), and various others (SAMtools, Artemis/ACT).
• Experience leading community engagement activities, training, and international collaborations.

Essential Competencies and Behaviours

• Ability to build active collaborations across academia, industry, and public health
• Commitment to open science, accessibility, and reproducible research.
• Analytical, problem solving, and strategic thinking skills, adapts to changing environments.
• Builds collaborative relationships with stakeholders at all levels, knowledgeable in workflow management tools, and can explain complex concepts to nontechnical stakeholders

Application Process

Please apply with your CV and a cover letter explaining your motivation for applying and how your skills and experience meet the application criteria.

• Salary per annum: £53,717 to £63,000 dependent upon skills and experience
• Informatician/ Data Scientist job family: Grade 1 Role profile
• Contract Type: 2 years fixed term in the first instance
• Closing Date: 9th November 2025

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We aim to attract, recruit, retain and develop talent from the widest possible talent pool, thereby gaining insight and access to different markets to generate a greater impact on the world. We have a supportive culture with the following staff networks, LGBTQ+, Parents and Carers, Disability and Race Equity to bring people together to share experiences, offer specific support and development opportunities and raise awareness. The networks are also a place for allies to provide support to others.

We want our people to be whoever they want to be because we believe people who bring their best selves to work, do their best work. That’s why we’re committed to creating a truly inclusive culture at Sanger Institute. We will consider all individuals without discrimination and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, where everyone can thrive.

We are proud to deliver an awarding campus‑wide employee wellbeing strategy and programme. The importance of good health and adopting a healthier lifestyle and the commitment to reduce work‑related stress is strongly acknowledged and recognised at Sanger Institute.