Translational Bioinformatics Lead

Astellas Pharma; Addlestone; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A global biopharmaceutical company is seeking a Translational Bioinformatics Lead to provide expertise for drug target selection and patient selection strategies. You will lead bioinformatics strategies, utilize advanced analysis methods, and conduct translational research across drug discovery programs. The ideal candidate has a Ph.D. in bioinformatics or related fields and strong programming skills. This is a hybrid role located in the UK offering flexibility and the opportunity to impact patient outcomes significantly.

Qualifications

• Experience in applying translational bioinformatics approaches to drug discovery/development.
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals.
• Experience with developing pipelines for next-generation sequencing data analysis.
• Strong programming skills in R, Python, and SAS.

Responsibilities

• Lead bioinformatics strategy and develop analysis plans for clinical development.
• Utilize bioinformatics methods to address translational questions.
• Conduct bioinformatics analysis of clinical trial omics data.

Skills

Translational bioinformatics expertise

Cancer genomics

R programming

Python programming

Statistical analysis

Machine learning

Data visualization with Shiny/plotly

Education

Ph.D. in computational biology, bioinformatics or related field

Job description

Description

Translational Bioinformatics Lead

About Astellas

At Astellas we are a progressive health partner, delivering value and outcomes where needed.

We pursue innovative science, focussing initially on the areas of greatest potential and then developing solutions where patient need is high, often in rare or under‑served disease areas and in life‑threatening or life‑limiting diseases and conditions.

We work directly with patients, doctors and health care professionals on the front line to ensure patient and clinical needs are guiding our development activities at every stage.

Our global vision for Patient Centricity is to support the development of innovative health solutions through a deep understanding of the patient experience. At Astellas, Patient Centricity isn’t a buzzword – it’s a guiding principle for action. We believe all staff have a role to play in creating a patient‑centric culture and integrating an awareness of the patient into our everyday working practices, regardless of our role, team or division.

We work closely with regulatory authorities and payers to find new ways to ensure access to new therapies. We deliver the latest insights and real‑world evidence to inform the best decisions for patients and their care‑givers, to ensure the medicines we develop continue to provide meaningful outcomes.

Beyond medicines, we support our stakeholder communities to drive initiatives that improve awareness, education, access and ultimately standards of care.

The Opportunity

As a Translational Bioinformatics Lead you will be responsible for providing bioinformatics expertise to drug target selection, translational research, patient selection strategy and clinical biomarker analysis for multiple drug discovery and development programs.

Hybrid Working

At Astellas we recognise the importance of balancing your work and home life, so we offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues in person at the office alongside the flexibility to work from home; optimising the most productive work environment for you to succeed and deliver.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead bioinformatics strategy and develop analysis plans to address asset team’s clinical development questions
• Utilise state of the art bioinformatics methods, internal and external data to address translational questions related to indication selection, patient segmentation, and biomarker identification
• Conduct bioinformatics analysis of clinical trial omics data to support POM and patient selection
• Support data ingestion and conducts analysis using translational and biomarker data management platforms
• Select the appropriate data sets and analytical approaches for drug target identification and validation to support drug research
• Develop new analysis tools and databases to meet the current and future portfolio needs
• Identify and evaluates external resources (CRO / academic collaborator) to complement internal capabilities

Essential Knowledge & Experience

• Experience in applying translational bioinformatics approaches to drug discovery / development, preferably in a biopharma setting.
• Strong publication record in peer reviewed journals.
• Demonstrated experience in cancer genomics and omics data analyses, including experience with developing pipelines for next‑generation sequencing data analysis and QC.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and performing bioinformatics analyses to address translational questions, including patient segmentation, biomarker selection, elucidation of MoA in clinical settings, and identification of drug resistance mechanisms in clinical trials.
• Strong programming skills (including R, Python, SAS) and deep‑knowledge for statistical analysis and machine learning.
• Experience with data visualization using web application such as Shiny / plotly.

Education

• Ph.D. in computational biology, bioinformatics or related field.

Preferred Skills & Knowledge

• Experience in analyzing single‑cell RNA‑seq, spatial transcriptomics and proteomics data.
• Experience with human genetics data and oncology real‑world clinical genomics and transcriptomics database.
• Administration experience of clustered or cloud computing systems.

Additional Information

• This is a permanent role.
• This role is located in UK.
• This role follows a hybrid working model, blending home‑based work with a minimum of 1 day per quarter in the office (to be confirmed based on primary location and business need). Flexibility may be required in line with business needs.
• This position may require travel domestically and / or internationally.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Beware of recruitment scams impersonating Astellas recruiters or representatives. Authentic communication will only originate from an official Astellas LinkedIn profile or a verified company email address. If you encounter a fake profile or anything suspicious, report it promptly to LinkedIn's support team through LinkedIn Help.