Remote Lead Bioinformatics Scientist – Genomics

Placements24; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Fully remote

Health insurance

Professional development budget

Annual bonuses

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Bioinformatics Scientist to spearhead data science initiatives in a remote-first setting. The role leads a team, guides research directions, and translates genomic and proteomic data into actionable insights.

Candidates should have a PhD, 8+ years in bioinformatics, and strong Python/R/Perl skills. The position emphasizes collaboration with clinicians and researchers, development of scalable pipelines, and contributions to publications.

Qualifications

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a closely related field.
• At least 8 years in bioinformatics with leadership experience.
• Expertise with Python, R, Perl and shell scripting.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and scale bioinformatics pipelines for omics data.
• Mentor and manage a team of bioinformaticians.
• Collaborate with biologists and clinicians on research questions.
• Develop algorithms and models for complex biological problems.
• Ensure reproducibility and data integrity.

Skills

Leadership

Python

R

Perl

Shell scripting

Genomics data

BLAST/GATK

Cloud computing

Education

PhD in Bioinformatics or related field

Tools

BLAST

GATK

samtools

R packages

Python libraries

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Bioinformatics Scientist to spearhead data science initiatives in a remote-first setting. The role leads a team, guides research directions, and translates genomic and proteomic data into actionable insights.

Candidates should have a PhD, 8+ years in bioinformatics, and strong Python/R/Perl skills. The position emphasizes collaboration with clinicians and researchers, development of scalable pipelines, and contributions to publications.