Research Fellow (Bioinformatician)

Wellcome Sanger Institute; City Of London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading genomics institute in the UK is seeking a Bioinformatician to manage and analyze large-scale gut microbiome datasets. In this full-time role, you will develop and maintain bioinformatics pipelines while innovating core bioinformatics activities for a major research project. The ideal candidate holds a PhD in bioinformatics, metagenomics, or genomics and has a strong publication record. This position requires on-site attendance at the institute and offers a competitive salary.

Benefits

41 Days holiday

Gym

On-site nursery

Defined benefit pension scheme

Employee assistance programme

Discounted medical insurance

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent experience in bioinformatics, metagenomics or genomics.
• Experience in developing and maintaining bioinformatics pipelines.
• Strong publication record in microbiome and microbial genomics.

Responsibilities

• Manage and analyse large-scale gut microbiome datasets.
• Develop and maintain bioinformatics workflows.
• Innovate bioinformatics activities for the 4M project.

Skills

Bioinformatics pipelines development

Large-scale dataset analysis

Data presentation

Programming (Python or R)

Education

PhD in bioinformatics, metagenomics or genomics

Tools

Nextflow

Snakemake

Linux/Unix

SQL

Job description

Role Overview

This Bioinformatician position is ideal for an ambitious and highly motivated postdoctoral scientist who will be integral to innovative microbiome work within the Children Growing up in Liverpool (C-GULL) programme of research. This Bioinformatician position is directly linked to the multi-year 4M enhancement to the C-GULL study. The key challenge in the role will be in managing and analysing large-scale gut microbiome metagenomic datasets (tens of thousands of samples), with responsibility for developing and maintaining pipelines, databases, and scalable workflows. The post holder will be responsible for maintaining and innovating core bioinformatics activities for the 4M project, specifically shotgun metagenomics pipelines and reference genome databases. The post holder will contribute to the development of new analytical and statistical methods to effectively mine high-throughput, multi-omics data generated by the C-GULL 4M study and curated from the public domain. This is a full-time role (i.e. 36.5 hours per week) and it is available for three years in the first instance. The successful applicant will be based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, CB10 1SA, and the post will require attendance on site daily. At times, the post holder may be expected to travel to London for meetings at UCL and to meetings with the CGULL team at the University of Liverpool.

Key Responsibilities

• Managing and analysing large-scale gut microbiome metagenomic datasets (tens of thousands of samples).
• Developing and maintaining bioinformatics pipelines, databases and scalable workflows.
• Maintaining and innovating core bioinformatics activities for the 4M project, specifically shotgun metagenomics pipelines and reference genome databases.
• Contributing to the development of new analytical and statistical methods to mine high‑throughput, multi‑omics data generated by the C-GULL 4M study and curated from the public domain.

Qualifications

• PhD in bioinformatics, metagenomics or genomics (or similar), or equivalent working experience in a related discipline.
• Experience in developing, implementing and maintaining bioinformatics pipelines (e.g., Nextflow or Snakemake) with clear documentation.
• Excellent track record of research productivity, demonstrated through a strong publication record, including high‑impact papers, preferably in microbiome and microbial genomics.
• Detailed understanding of the gut microbiome and its role in human health and disease and demonstrated experience in handling large‑scale microbiome or pathogen genomics datasets.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g., Python or R) and knowledge of Linux/Unix, SQL and high‑performance computing environments.
• Data presentation skills to generate high‑quality graphs, plots and figures suitable for scientific publication.

Institutional Context

The UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) is at the heart of UCL's Grand Challenge of Global Health. The Institute's vision is for a world where international policy on global health is informed by world‑class research. IGH aims to support the development of robust solutions to aspects of the world's major global health challenges through scholarly outputs, education, public engagement, translational research, and ultimately by influencing public policy and professional practice. The successful applicant will be based primarily at the Wellcome Sanger Institute on the Wellcome Genome Campus, nine miles south of Cambridge. The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world‑leading genomics institute at the forefront of experimental, computational and translational genomic research.

Salary and Benefits

Salary range: £50,253 to £59,966 per annum, depending on experience.

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On‑site nursery
• On‑site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Contact

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Dr Trevor Lawley at or Prof Nigel Field at .

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.