Sr. Bioinformatics Scientist

Abbott (abbottcareers2 board); San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Abbott is seeking a Senior Bioinformatics Scientist based in La Jolla to lead complex projects within Cancer Diagnostics. You will function as a technical lead, mentor junior scientists, and shape methods for next-gen sequencing and diagnostic assay development.

You will collaborate across teams to plan analyses, interpret data, and guide direction for product development while improving processes and implementing new technologies.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in bioinformatics or related field preferred; or Master's with 4+ years experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop algorithms to improve germline variant calling sensitivity.
• Build bioinformatics pipeline prototypes for germline sequencing.
• Develop ML models to support variant classification and clinical significance predictions.

Skills

Coding in 3+ languages

Bioinformatics expertise

Statistical methods in biology

Linux HPC / cloud

Mentoring teammates

Education

Ph.D. in bioinformatics, computational biology, CS, math or related field

Master's in bioinformatics, computational biology, CS, math + 4y exp

Bachelor's in bioinformatics, computational biology, CS, math + 6y exp

Tools

NextFlow

R

JMP

AWS

Job description

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Working at Abbott

At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and your family, be your true self, and live a full life.

You’ll also have access to:

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with a high employer contribution.
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program, and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor's degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries worldwide and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as the best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity

This position works out of our La Jolla location in the Cancer Diagnostics division.

As the Senior Bioinformatics Scientist, you’ll have the chance to work in collaboration with others on one or more projects which are complex in scope. The Senior Bioinformatics Scientist participates in or leads planning of projects and analyses and is often the bioinformatics lead responsible for the successful execution of the project. This position involves independently making detailed observations, analyzing data, interpreting results, and providing insights into the next steps and direction of the project, as well as independently determining methods and procedures on new assignments or projects. Working in a team setting, the Senior Bioinformatics Scientist will be involved in Research and Development projects serving as a technical lead and/or a subject matter expert in exploring and researching new technologies, providing ideas and concepts to improve or develop processes, and/or establish methods and processes for product development towards development of diagnostic assay products. The Senior Bioinformatics Scientist will mentor and provide technical guidance to junior scientists in project teams.

What You’ll Work On

• Algorithm development to improve sensitivity of germline variant calling.
• Building bioinformatics pipeline prototypes to support germline sequencing.
• Development of Machine learning models to support variant classification and clinical significance predictions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or related field; or Master's degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or related field plus 4 years of experience in lieu of a Ph.D.; or Bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or related field plus 6 years of experience in lieu of Ph.D.
• 5+ years of industry or academia experience in bioinformatics.
• 3+ years of experience in medical device/IVD, biotech, life science or pharmaceutical industry.
• Extensive experience in Linux-based HPC or cloud computing environments and associated tools.
• Ability to write custom code in at least three programming or scripting languages.
• Technical expert in the area of molecular biology and/or biochemistry and/or next-generation sequencing (NGS) and genomics.
• Knowledge of product/assay research, design, or development.
• Working knowledge of statistical and mathematical methods in biology/genetics, including experience with statistical software, such as JMP or R.
• Basic computer skills to include Internet navigation, Email usage, and word processing.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office to include Excel and Word and PowerPoint.
• Demonstrated ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without accommodation.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in country where work will be performed on a full time or part-time basis. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in medical device/IVD, biotech, life science or pharmaceutical industry.
• Previous industry experience in product development or technical support.
• Background containing a substantial amount of bioinformatics work including troubleshooting.
• Previous experience working in a molecular diagnostics/clinical laboratory setting.
• Variant calling (SNV/CNV/SV) experience in algorithm development/building pipelines.
• Experience with NextFlow to create NGS pipelines.
• Experience with AWS or other similar cloud platforms.
• Experience with whole exome/targeted