Senior Bioinformatics Scientist: Germline & ML for Cancer Diagnostics

abbott; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

HIP PPO health plan

Strong retirement plan

Tuition reimbursement

FreeU education benefit

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Abbott La Jolla site is seeking a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist to lead and execute complex projects in Cancer Diagnostics. You will plan analyses, guide project direction, and act as a technical lead, mentoring junior scientists in a collaborative R&D setting.

The role emphasizes developing germline variant calling methods, building pipelines, and applying ML for clinical significance predictions. Strong programming and cloud experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or related field; or Master’s with 4 years of experience in lieu of Ph.D.; or Bachelor’s with 6 years in lieu of Ph.D.
• 5+ years of industry or academia experience in bioinformatics.
• 3+ years in medical device/IVD, biotech, life science or pharmaceutical industry.
• Extensive experience in Linux-based HPC or cloud computing environments and tools.
• Ability to write custom code in at least three programming or scripting languages.
• Technical expert in molecular biology and/or biochemistry and/or NGS and genomics.
• Knowledge of product/assay research, design, or development.
• Experience with statistical software (e.g., JMP or R).
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Authorized to work in country with no sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Algorithm development to improve germline variant calling sensitivity.
• Build bioinformatics pipeline prototypes to support germline sequencing.
• Develop machine learning models to support variant classification and clinical significance predictions.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior scientists in project teams.

Skills

Bioinformatics

Linux HPC

Programming languages

NGS genomics

Machine learning

Education

PhD in bioinformatics/computational biology

Master + 4 years experience in lieu of PhD

Bachelor + 6 years experience in lieu of PhD

Tools

NextFlow

AWS / cloud platforms

R/JMP statistical tools

Job description

Abbott La Jolla site is seeking a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist to lead and execute complex projects in Cancer Diagnostics. You will plan analyses, guide project direction, and act as a technical lead, mentoring junior scientists in a collaborative R&D setting.

The role emphasizes developing germline variant calling methods, building pipelines, and applying ML for clinical significance predictions. Strong programming and cloud experience are essential.