Senior Bioinformatician (Fixed Term)

University of Cambridge; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

The CRUK Cambridge Institute, a department of the University of Cambridge, seeks a Senior Bioinformatician to lead computational analysis of metabolic heterogeneity in glioblastoma. The role will integrate isotope-tracing and MS data with genomic, transcriptomic, single-cell, spatial and phenotypic data to understand tumour metabolism and therapy response.

You will design and implement reproducible pipelines for metabolic profiling, apply ML/DL to infer metabolic states, mentor junior

Qualifications

• Lead the design, implementation and validation of reproducible computational pipelines for metabolic profiling and metabolic flux analysis.
• Develop quantitative methods linking metabolic flux and metabolomic measurements to tumour phenotype and heterogeneity.
• Apply statistical, machine-learning and deep-learning methods to identify metabolic programmes and predict treatment response.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation and validation of reproducible computational pipelines for metabolic profiling, isotope-tracing and metabolic flux analysis in glioblastoma.
• Develop quantitative approaches to link metabolic flux and metabolomic measurements to tumour phenotype, cellular state and response to therapy.
• Integrate metabolic datasets with genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and single-cell datasets, and where appropriate imaging and clinical data.
• Apply machine-learning and deep-learning methods to identify metabolic programmes and develop predictive models of tumour behaviour.
• Develop quality-control, normalisation and benchmarking frameworks across platforms and cohorts.
• Collaborate with experimental scientists to translate questions into analyses and to design interpretable experiments.
• Provide technical leadership and contribute to publications, grants, and mentoring of juniors.

Job description

Join us at the world-leading CRUK Cambridge Institute. We're a unique department of the University of Cambridge, core funded by Cancer Research UK's charitable activities, and we're eagerly searching for a Senior Bioinformatician to join the Mair Group and lead computational analysis of metabolic heterogeneity in glioblastoma. The project will build on established and newly generated datasets to understand how tumour metabolism varies between and within patients, how metabolic state shapes tumour phenotype and heterogeneity, and how these processes influence response to therapy.

A central focus will be the development and application of metabolic flux analysis paradigms, integrating isotope-tracing and mass-spectrometry-derived measurements with genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic, single-cell, spatial and phenotypic data. The post-holder will use these data to identify metabolic programmes associated with distinct tumour states and therapeutic vulnerabilities, and to determine how metabolism changes during tumour evolution and treatment.

This Grade 8 role will provide senior computational leadership for the programme. The post-holder will develop robust and reproducible analytical frameworks for metabolic and multi-omic data, integrate deeply characterised metabolic datasets with larger existing cohorts, and explore machine-learning and deep-learning approaches that can infer metabolic state, explain biological heterogeneity and predict treatment response. The role offers considerable scope to develop new computational methodology at the interface of cancer metabolism, systems biology and data science.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation and validation of reproducible computational pipelines for metabolic profiling, isotope-tracing and metabolic flux analysis in glioblastoma.
• Develop quantitative approaches to link metabolic flux and metabolomic measurements to tumour phenotype, cellular state, intratumoural heterogeneity and response to therapy.
• Integrate metabolic datasets with genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, single-cell and spatial datasets, and where appropriate imaging, pathology and longitudinal clinical information.
• Apply statistical, machine-learning and deep-learning methods to identify metabolic programmes, infer metabolic state from larger datasets and develop predictive models of tumour behaviour and treatment response.
• Develop rigorous quality-control, normalisation, harmonisation and benchmarking frameworks across metabolic platforms, cohorts, experimental systems and timepoints.
• Work closely with experimental scientists to translate biological questions into computational analyses and to design experiments that maximise the interpretability of metabolic flux and multi-omic data.
• Lead computational analyses for high-quality publications, presentations and grant applications, and communicate complex quantitative concepts to multidisciplinary biological and clinical audiences.
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership and mentoring for junior computational researchers and students, and contribute to the longer-term development of the Mair Group computational metabolism programme.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.

The closing date for applications is: 30th September 2026

The interview date for the role is: To be confirmed

Please quote reference SW51093 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.