Senior Computational Scientist

University-of-North-Carolina-At-Chapel-Hil; Chapel Hill (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discounts on campus services

Comprehensive benefits

Professional training opportunities

Job summary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking a Senior Computational Scientist to build and run software for the Initiative for Generative Immunotherapy. You will automate sequencing data handling, create an internal tracking system, and develop a public portal for researchers to browse and download data.

You will collaborate with bioinformaticians, laboratory staff, and physicians to define requirements, ensure compliant data sharing, and contribute to grant proposals.

Qualifications

• Experience building modern web apps with front-end frameworks and TypeScript.
• Automating ingestion, validation, transfer, and release of large datasets.
• Knowledge of WGS/WES/RNA-seq/single-cell formats and GA4GH standards.
• Experience with AI methods and software process automation.
• Strong attention to detail across multiple priorities.
• Excellent presentation, communication, and mentorship skills.
• Preferred PhD in relevant field; proficiency in Python and workflow managers.

Responsibilities

• Build and run software for tracking, processing, and sharing research data.
• Automate data handling for sequencing analyses and pipeline inputs/outputs.
• Develop internal sample/data tracking system linking biospecimens to annotations.
• Create a public web portal for dataset search, filtering, and download.
• Collaborate with bioinformaticians, lab staff, and physicians to define requirements.
• Ensure data sharing respects consent, privacy, and funder rules; assist grant writing.

Skills

Frontend frameworks

Data handling automation

Bioinformatics data familiarity

AI methods & automation

Multitasking & attention to detail

Analytical thinking

Communication & mentorship

Education

PhD in CS / Bioinformatics / Data Science

Master's or Bachelor's with related experience

Tools

Python

Nextflow / Snakemake

FastAPI / Django / Node.js

PostgreSQL

Data visualization tools (D3, Plotly)

Cloud platforms / containers / CI/CD

Job description

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC -Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package , paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research.

Patient care: We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.

Education: We prepare tomorrow`s healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce.

Research: We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources. We provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our university to support outstanding research. We foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic and population research.

Position Summary

The Senior Computational Scientist, Research Software & Data Platforms, builds and runs the software that the Initiative for Generative Immunotherapy at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center uses to track, process, and share its research data. The position has three main areas of work: automating data handling around the Initiative’s sequencing analyses, building an internal system for tracking samples and data, and developing a public web portal where researchers can browse and download the Initiative’s data.

Data handling covers intake of new data from sequencing cores and collaborators, file and metadata checks, storage and transfer, hand-off of whole-genome (WGS), whole-exome (WES), bulk RNA -seq, and single-cell data to the analysis pipelines, and cataloging and release of pipeline outputs. The pipelines themselves are written and run by the Initiative’s bioinformatics staff and are outside the scope of this position.

The public portal will let users search and filter datasets and sample metadata, view summary plots, and download data in standard formats, one file at a time or in bulk.

The internal sample and data management system will link each biospecimen to its clinical annotations, sequencing runs, files, and analysis results, so that any sample can be traced from collection to public release.

The position works with bioinformaticians, laboratory staff, and physicians to define requirements, makes sure data sharing follows consent, privacy, and funder rules, and writes the technical sections of grant proposals and papers that describe the Initiative’s data resources.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Master’s or Bachelor’s and 0-2 years’ experience; or will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• * Experience building web applications with a modern front-end framework (e.g., React, Vue, or Svelte, with TypeScript), including interfaces for searching, filtering, and visualizing data.
• * Experience automating data handling (ingestion, validation, transfer, cataloging, release) for large scientific or clinical datasets.
• * Working knowledge of high-throughput sequencing data, including WGS, WES, bulk RNA -seq, and single-cell, and the associated file formats and standards (e.g., FASTQ, BAM / CRAM, VCF, h5ad/AnnData, GA4GH), enough to work directly with bioinformaticians on pipeline inputs and outputs.
• * Facility with modern AI methods and software process automation.
• * Attention to detail and ability to work simultaneously on multiple priorities.
• * Analytical capabilities, including the ability to think critically and strategically and to propose and implement change.
• * Excellent presentation, communication, management, and mentorship skills.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• * PhD in Computer Science, Bioinformatics/Computational Biology, Data Science, or similar discipline.
• * Proficiency in Python, and enough familiarity with workflow managers (e.g., Nextflow, Snakemake) to pass data to and collect results from pipelines run by bioinformatics staff.
• * Experience building back-end services and APIs (e.g., FastAPI, Django, Node.js; REST or GraphQL) on relational databases such as PostgreSQL.
• * Experience developing or administering sample tracking, LIMS, or research metadata management systems.
• * Experience with data visualization libraries (e.g., D3, Plotly, Vega) and with building accessible user interfaces.
• * Experience serving large files (e.g., object storage with signed URLs, Globus, Aspera).
• * Experience with cloud platforms, containers, scheduled and event-driven jobs, and CI/CD.
• * Familiarity with public genomic data portals and repositories (e.g., NCI Genomic Data Commons, cBioPortal, CELLxGENE, GEO, SRA, dbGaP) and FAIR data principles.

Department Contact Telephone or Email

[e-mail]

Office of Human Resources Contact Information

Phone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Required Documents

• Curriculum Vitae / Resume
• Cover Letter
• List of References

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• * Please select the response below that describes your level of education that best or most closely satisfies the education requirements for this position.
  • Bachelor’s degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
  • Bachelor's degree in any field/discipline
  • Master's degree or Doctorate degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
  • Master's degree or Doctorate degree in any field/discipline
  • None of the above
• * Describe your experience developing web applications using modern front-end frameworks such as React, Vue, or Svelte with TypeScript. What types of data search, filtering, or visualization features have you designed and implemented? (Open Ended Question)
• * Tell us about a project where you automated the handling of large scientific or clinical datasets. What processes did you automate (e.g., data ingestion, validation, transfer, cataloging, or release), and what was the outcome? (Open Ended Question)
• * Describe your experience working with high-throughput sequencing data, such as WGS, WES, bulk RNA-seq, or single-cell datasets. How have you used file formats and standards such as FASTQ, BAM/CRAM, VCF, h5ad/AnnData, or GA4GH in collaboration with bioinformaticians or research teams? (Open Ended Question)