(Senior) Computational Genomics Scientist, Algorithms & AI/ML - Pathogen Programme

Ellison Institute of Technology; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel allowance

Annual Bonus

Enhanced holiday pay

Pension

Life Assurance

Income Protection

Private Medical Insurance

Hospital Cash Plan

Therapy Services

Perk Box

Electric Car Scheme

Job summary

Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) invites applications for a (Senior) Scientist role focused on translating pathogen genomics into actionable diagnostics. You will design and implement computational methods for metagenomics, sequencing data interpretation, and clinical/public health impact, reporting to the Lead Scientist in Computational Genomics.

Collaboration with bioinformaticians, data scientists, microbiologists, and software engineers is required.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or physics.
• Proven track record of developing computational algorithms or tools in genomics.
• Strong programming skills; Python and ideally C/C++ or Rust.
• Experience with AI/ML in a genomics context is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and evaluate novel computational algorithms in areas such as taxonomic classification and antimicrobial resistance.
• Develop ML/AI techniques to address real-world problems in pathogen genomics in collaboration with scientists across EIT.
• Validate and benchmark methods using public and internal datasets.
• Work with bioinformaticians and software engineers to implement methods in scalable, reproducible workflows.
• Communicate technical work clearly to interdisciplinary teams.

Skills

PhD or equivalent

Computational algorithms

AI/ML in genomics

Python programming

C/C++/Rust

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Job description

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we’re on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionaryscientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you’ll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at eit.org.

Welcome to the Pathogen Program:

Within this ecosystem, the Pathogen Program exemplifies EIT’s dedication to ground-breaking science. It seeks to transform pathogen risk management, detection and response by leveraging Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS)-based metagenomic and pathogen-specific analytical tools. The goal is to power metagenomic devices using long-read sequencing technologies by building a comprehensive database of pathogen information to inform response. The database will comprise >400,000 paired high-quality long read sequences with comprehensive antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. Enabled by Oracle Inc.’s cloud-computing scale and security, the Pathogen Program is advancing toward certified diagnostic tools for deployment in laboratories, hospitals, and public health organisations worldwide.

Your Role:

As a(Senior) Scientist, you will design,develop, andevaluatenovel computationalmethodsfortranslatingmetagenomic sequencing datainto actionable resultsin a clinical or public health context.

Youwilldevelopalgorithmsand AI/ML methodsthatareaccurateand robust enough tobeintegrated into ourinfectious disease diagnosticproduct.You Will report to the Lead Scientist in Computational Genomics, and you will work closely withbioinformaticians,data scientists,microbiologists,andsoftware engineers to deliver clinically relevant innovation in the microbial genomics space.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop,and evaluate novel computationalalgorithmsin areas such astaxonomic classification and antimicrobial resistance
• DevelopML/AI techniques toaddressreal-worldproblems in the pathogen genomics space, incollaborationwith scientists across EIT
• Validate and benchmarkmethods using public and internal datasets
• Work with bioinformaticians and software engineers to implement methods in scalable, reproducible, and modular workflows
• Communicate technicalwork clearly to interdisciplinary teams

Requirements

Requirements

This is a methods development role. Strong candidates will have deepexpertisein either bioinformatics algorithm development or ML/AI in a genomics context. Depth in both areas is a plus.

Experience with microbial genomics and metagenomics is preferred but notrequired. We actively welcome applicants with genomics experience inothercontextswho are interestedin applyingtheirmethodsdevelopmentexpertisein thepathogens space.

For Senior:Candidates will havea track recordofindependently executed research projects, typicallywith three or more years of experience in industry or as a postdoc.

Essential Knowledge,Skillsand Experience:

• PhD or equivalent experience ina quantitative field, such ascomputational biology, computer science,mathematics,orphysics
• Track recordof developing computational algorithms or tools inthe genomicsspace.Algorithms:Designed and released a tool in a relevant area, such assequence search/storage, genome assembly/annotation, pangenome graphs,orphylogenetics.AI/ML:Ownership of model training and evaluation at scale, with a deep understanding of the underlying methods and architectures.
• Strong command of underlying fundamentaldata structures, algorithms, and statistical methods(e.g.De Bruijn graphs, embeddings, Bayesian methods)
• Solidprogrammingskills(e.g.Python;C, C++, or Rustis a plus) and software development best practices (version control, CI/CD)

Desirable Knowledge,Skillsand Experience:

• Experience in microbial genomics
• Experience with long-read sequencing data (ONT)
• Experience with cloud computing, workflow management, and ML ops
• For senior:Experience mentoring or line-managing scientists

Benefits

Our Benefits:

• Travel allowance
• Annual Bonus
• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme

Working Together – What It Involves:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).
• We have a hybrid working model, 3 days in the office & 2 days from home