Senior Computational Biologist — Metagenomic Detection & AI

Perimeter; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Perimeter is hiring a computational synthetic biologist to advance agnostic detection of genetic engineering in metagenomic NGS data. Building on ENDAR concepts from FELIX, you will help detect engineered biothreats and enable rapid containment.

We seek a PhD (or 5+ years) with 2+ years in genetics/genomics, and strong Python plus NGS analysis experience. Excellent communication and cross-functional teamwork are essential for this role.

Qualifications

• PhD (or five years experience) plus two years experience in genetics, genomics, computational biology, or a related discipline.
• 2+ years of first-hand experience engineering microbes using molecular methods.
• Subject matter expertise in NGS analysis (assembly, alignment, SV calling, annotation).
• Proficiency with Python; ability to work across multiple projects in fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead approaches to improve engineering detection capabilities with benchmarking and validation strategies.
• Provide expert assessments of function, purpose and impact when genetic engineering or biothreats are detected.
• Troubleshoot complex problems and propose experimental plans to resolve them.
• Maintain high-quality documentation in reports, notebooks, code comments and software docs.
• Share expertise with the team to raise collective capabilities.

Skills

Genetics

Genomics

Computational biology

Python

NGS analysis

Project management

Communication

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

Gibson assembly

Plasmid engineering

Job description

Perimeter is hiring a computational synthetic biologist to advance agnostic detection of genetic engineering in metagenomic NGS data. Building on ENDAR concepts from FELIX, you will help detect engineered biothreats and enable rapid containment.

We seek a PhD (or 5+ years) with 2+ years in genetics/genomics, and strong Python plus NGS analysis experience. Excellent communication and cross-functional teamwork are essential for this role.