Remote Lead: Genomics & Bioinformatics

Placements24; LegKraal Gate; Hybrid; ZAR 2,324,000 - 3,320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health benefits

Retirement plan

Remote-friendly culture

Job summary

Placements24 is expanding its scientific team with a Lead Computational Biologist who will guide bioinformatics and genomics initiatives in a remote-first setting. You will oversee data-driven projects, mentor researchers, and drive innovative analyses across large-scale datasets.

The role emphasizes leadership, advanced pipelines, and collaboration with international researchers to translate complex data into actionable insights for precision medicine and life sciences.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, CS, Statistics, Genetics, or related quantitative field.
• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in computational biology or bioinformatics with genomics focus.
• Proven leadership experience in managing a team of computational scientists.
• Proficiency in Python, R, shell scripting; experience with bioinformatics libraries/tools (Bioconductor, GATK, STAR, Samtools).
• Hands-on experience with HPC environments and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Strong statistics and machine-learning knowledge for biological data; experience with NGS data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and application of advanced bioinformatics pipelines for genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data.
• Mentor and manage a team of computational biologists; foster collaboration.
• Design analyses to identify genetic variants, expression patterns, and regulatory networks.
• Develop machine learning models for biological data interpretation and prediction.
• Collaborate with experimental biologists to design studies and validate findings.
• Ensure reproducible and scalable workflows using best software practices.
• Contribute to novel algorithm development and tool creation.
• Present findings to diverse audiences including non-specialists.
• Stay updated with advances in genomics and computational biology.
• Contribute to grant writing and publications.

Skills

Leadership

Python

R

Shell scripting

Bioconductor

GATK

STAR

Samtools

HPC

AWS

GCP

Azure

Machine learning

NGS data analysis

Education

Ph.D. in Bioinformatics/Computational Biology/CS/Statistics/Genetics

Tools

Bioconductor

GATK

STAR

Samtools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

Placements24 is expanding its scientific team with a Lead Computational Biologist who will guide bioinformatics and genomics initiatives in a remote-first setting. You will oversee data-driven projects, mentor researchers, and drive innovative analyses across large-scale datasets.

The role emphasizes leadership, advanced pipelines, and collaboration with international researchers to translate complex data into actionable insights for precision medicine and life sciences.