Research Scientist - Pathogen Genomics and Surveillance

Parsons; Frederick (MD); On-site; USD 104,000 - 181,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

401(k)

Paid time off

Flexible work schedules

Job summary

Parsons is seeking Research Scientists—Pathogen Genomics and Surveillance to support infectious-disease research at NMRC BDRD, conducting molecular biology, genomics, microbiology, virology, and bioinformatics.

The role involves design and conduct of infectious-disease research, wet-lab activities, NGS and analysis, protocol development, and pathogen surveillance across diverse sample types, with travel as required.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in molecular biology, biology, microbiology, virology, emerging infectious diseases, biochemistry, or a closely related field.
• Practical postdoctoral research experience in virology, bacteriology, and/or genomics.
• At least two years of demonstrable applied experience relevant to genomics, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, bioinformatics, or bioinformatics-platform and software development.

Responsibilities

• Design and conduct basic and applied infectious-disease research.
• Perform wet-laboratory activities supporting genomics, pathogen detection, and characterization.
• Conduct or support NGS and bioinformatics analysis of complex samples.
• Develop, test, and improve laboratory and analytical protocols.
• Design probes or primers and assess analytical sensitivity and specificity.
• Support target-enrichment, shotgun-sequencing, and amplicon-sequencing approaches.
• Perform pathogen surveillance and contribute to the detection of known or novel pathogens.
• Analyze research data, troubleshoot technical issues, and document experimental results.
• Support epidemic, pandemic, and emerging-pathogen research activities.
• Prepare protocols, SOPs, technical reports, presentations, manuscripts, and database-ready data.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary researchers and CONUS or OCONUS partners.
• Travel domestically and internationally when required.

Skills

Data analysis

Troubleshooting

Scientific writing

Communication skills

Education

PhD in molecular biology or related field

Tools

Bioinformatics pipelines

NGS platforms

Job description

In a world of possibilities, pursue one with endless opportunities. Imagine Next!

At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what's possible.

Job Description:

Parsons is seeking Research Scientists - Pathogen Genomics and Surveillance to support infectious-disease research at NMRC BDRD. These positions will conduct laboratory and analytical research involving molecular biology, genomics, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, and bioinformatics.

The selected scientists will contribute to pathogen detection, surveillance, protocol development, sequencing, data analysis, and epidemic or pandemic preparedness. Work may involve clinical, environmental, wastewater, animal, vector, or other complex samples.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design and conduct basic and applied infectious-disease research.
• Perform wet-laboratory activities supporting genomics, pathogen detection, and characterization.
• Conduct or support NGS and bioinformatics analysis of complex samples.
• Develop, test, and improve laboratory and analytical protocols.
• Design probes or primers and assess analytical sensitivity and specificity.
• Support target-enrichment, shotgun-sequencing, and amplicon-sequencing approaches.
• Perform pathogen surveillance and contribute to the detection of known or novel pathogens.
• Analyze research data, troubleshoot technical issues, and document experimental results.
• Support epidemic, pandemic, and emerging-pathogen research activities.
• Prepare protocols, SOPs, technical reports, presentations, manuscripts, and database-ready data.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary researchers and CONUS or OCONUS partners.
• Travel domestically and internationally when required.

What Required Skills You'll Bring

• Ph.D. in molecular biology, biology, microbiology, virology, emerging infectious diseases, biochemistry, or a closely related field.
• Practical postdoctoral research experience in virology, bacteriology, and/or genomics.
• At least two years of demonstrable applied experience relevant to genomics, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, bioinformatics, or bioinformatics-platform and software development.
• Practical knowledge of basic and applied research, experimental design, and scientific methods.
• Demonstrated ability to perform original and competent research.
• Strong data-analysis, troubleshooting, writing, and communication skills.
• Ability to meet project deadlines and work in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Ability to provide occasional after-hours support based on assigned mission requirements.
• Availability for domestic and international travel lasting up to two to four weeks.
• U.S. citizenship due to federal contract requirements.
• Eligibility to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance and required Government access.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring

• Significant NGS and wet-laboratory experience with infectious-disease protocols.
• Experience with clinical, environmental, wastewater, animal, or vector samples.
• Experience with whole-genome sequencing, genome assembly, annotation, or phylogenetics.
• Experience developing or validating bioinformatics pipelines.
• Experience supporting DoD, Navy Medicine, or another federal research laboratory.
• Experience with biosurveillance, outbreak response, or emerging pathogens.
• Scientific publication and conference-presentation experience.
• An active Secret security clearance.

Compliance Note

These positions are expected to be primarily on-site at Fort Detrick and are contingent upon contract award. Candidates must satisfy applicable security, facility-access, IT-access, laboratory-safety, human- or animal-research, and travel requirements. Participation in assigned rotational reach-back coverage may be required outside normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, or holidays.

Security Clearance Requirement

None

This position is part of our Federal Solutions team.

The Federal Solutions segment delivers resources to our US government customers that ensure the success of missions around the globe. Our intelligent employees drive the state of the art as they provide services and solutions in the areas of defense, security, intelligence, infrastructure, and environmental. We promote a culture of excellence and close-knit teams that take pride in delivering, protecting, and sustaining our nation's most critical assets, from Earth to cyberspace. Throughout the company, our people are anticipating what's next to deliver the solutions our customers need now.

Salary Range

$103,500.00 - $181,100.00

Benefits

• We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, 401(k), life insurance, flexible work schedules,