Lead, Bioinformatics Platform & AI Tools

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital; Thuwal; On-site; SAR 450,000 - 750,000; Full time

Job summary

KAUST invites applications for the Lead of the Bioinformatics Platform. The Lead provides scientific, technical, operational and financial leadership for the Platform's bioinformatics and software infrastructure teams.

The role coordinates delivery of bioinformatics services, workflows and data infrastructure to support KAUST researchers and Core Labs. The role emphasizes strategic development, scalable workflows, reproducibility and collaboration with IT, Core Labs and external partners.

Qualifications

• PhD degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, data science, software engineering, or a related field.
• At least 5-8 years of relevant professional experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, scientific software development, data science or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading or managing multidisciplinary technical/scientific teams.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining bioinformatics workflows, software tools, computational infrastructure and/or data analysis services.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific, technical, operational and financial leadership for the Bioinformatics Platform team and ensure effective coordination across bioinformatics, software development and computational infrastructure activities.
• Lead project planning and resource allocation across the team, balancing routine service delivery, infrastructure development, software development and R&D activities.
• Plan and oversee the development of capabilities in key Platform areas, which may include genomics, metagenomics, microbiome analysis, spatial omics, short-read and long-read sequencing, structural biology, multi-omics and AI-enabled biological data analysis.
• Monitor developments in bioinformatics, computational biology, AI and software engineering and proactively identify opportunities to introduce relevant technologies and practices into the Platform.
• Ensure efficient day-to-day delivery of bioinformatics and data analysis services to KAUST researchers, faculty and Core Labs.
• Provide expert guidance on bioinformatics and computational approaches for complex research projects.
• Establish and maintain effective relationships with faculty, researchers, Core Labs, IT, research platforms and external partners.
• Contribute to development of new collaborations, externally funded projects and consultancy opportunities.
• Lead development and improvement of scalable bioinformatics workflows, analytical pipelines, software tools and computational services.
• Oversee development and maintenance of web-based bioinformatics services, databases and computational resources.
• Develop and implement software and computational asset management strategy.
• Contribute to FAIR data management practices.
• Plan and oversee SOPs, workflows, user and technical documentation.
• Coordinate with KAUST IT and the Supercomputing Core Lab on computational resources.
• Establish quality control, quality assurance, validation, reproducibility and documentation practices.
• Lead financial planning and budget management for the Platform.
• Identify opportunities for cost optimization, external funding and service revenue.
• Recruit, mentor, coach and develop staff.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive and positive work environment.
• Lead development of new bioinformatics methodologies, software tools and AI-driven methods.
• Contribute to training, workshops, publications and grant proposals.
• Perform other applicable tasks and duties assigned within the realm of the position.
• Leadership & People Management: Ability to lead and motivate multidisciplinary teams, prioritize competing demands, and make independent operational and technical decisions.
• Domain Expertise: Extensive expertise in bioinformatics, computational biology, data science and/or scientific software development.
• Strong knowledge of genomics and sequencing technologies; experience in multi-omics, spatial omics, metagenomics, microbiome analysis, structural biology or AI/ML is an advantage.
• Strong programming and computational skills in Python, R, C/C++ or Java, with strong Linux/command-line proficiency.
• Strong scientific and technical problem-solving skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong ownership, accountability and reliability.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Project management

Biology/Bioinformatics

Analytical thinking

Education

PhD in bioinformatics or related field

Tools

Python

R

C/C++

Java

Linux

HPC

Job description

KAUST invites applications for the Lead of the Bioinformatics Platform. The Lead provides scientific, technical, operational and financial leadership for the Platform's bioinformatics and software infrastructure teams.

The role coordinates delivery of bioinformatics services, workflows and data infrastructure to support KAUST researchers and Core Labs. The role emphasizes strategic development, scalable workflows, reproducibility and collaboration with IT, Core Labs and external partners.