Durban Principal Bioinformatician — Genomics & ML Leadership

Placements24; Durban; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Retirement plan with employer contrib.

Paid time off

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Principal Bioinformatician to lead genomics research at our Durban facility. You will manage large-scale data analyses, build pipelines for NGS data, and collaborate with biologists and clinicians to extract actionable insights.

You will mentor junior scientists, contribute to grant proposals and publications, and stay abreast of new tools in bioinformatics and machine learning to drive therapeutic innovation.

Qualifications

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years hands-on experience in bioinformatics with a strong genomics focus.
• Extensive experience with NGS data analysis pipelines and associated software.
• Proficiency in Python, R, Perl, and shell scripting.
• Strong understanding of statistical modeling and machine learning techniques.
• Experience with bioinformatics databases (NCBI, Ensembl, UCSC).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) and HPC environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects and manage research tasks.
• Track record of publications in reputable journals.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and execution of bioinformatics analyses for large-scale genomics projects.
• Develop, implement, and optimize bioinformatics pipelines for NGS data.
• Analyze whole-genome, exome, RNA-seq, and ChIP-seq data.
• Develop and apply statistical and machine learning methods for data interpretation.
• Collaborate with experimental scientists to define research questions and strategies.
• Interpret and report findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Supervise and mentor junior bioinformaticians and research staff.
• Contribute to grant proposals and manuscript preparation.
• Ensure data integrity, quality control, and proper data management.
• Stay current with advancements in bioinformatics tools and knowledge.

Skills

Python

R

Perl

Shell scripting

Education

PhD in Bioinformatics or related field

Tools

NGS data analytics

Cloud computing

HPC

Job description

Placements24 seeks a Principal Bioinformatician to lead genomics research at our Durban facility. You will manage large-scale data analyses, build pipelines for NGS data, and collaborate with biologists and clinicians to extract actionable insights.

You will mentor junior scientists, contribute to grant proposals and publications, and stay abreast of new tools in bioinformatics and machine learning to drive therapeutic innovation.