Senior Computational Biologist - Drug Discovery

Placements24; Mossel Bay; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Remote work

Professional development

Conference participation

Job summary

Placements24 in Mossel Bay seeks a highly analytical Senior Computational Biologist to join the Drug Discovery team. You will design pipelines for genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, and build predictive models to identify drug targets and biomarkers in a remote-first setting.

You will collaborate with experimental biologists and medicinal chemists, apply ML and statistics to uncover patterns, contribute to databases and software tools, and participate in a stimulating virtual research

Qualifications

• PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, CS, or related quantitative field.
• Minimum 6 years in computational biology/bioinformatics, with focus on drug discovery.
• Strong Python or R programming and bioinformatics libraries.
• Experience with statistical modeling, ML, and data mining.
• Familiarity with biological databases (e.g., UniProt, Ensembl) and literature mining.
• Excellent communication and remote teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement computational pipelines for analyzing high-throughput biological data, including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics.
• Develop and validate predictive models to identify novel drug targets and biomarkers.
• Collaborate with experimental biologists and medicinal chemists to interpret computational findings and guide experimental design.
• Utilize machine learning and statistical methods to uncover complex biological patterns and relationships.
• Contribute to the development of databases and software tools for biological data management and analysis.
• Present complex computational results to diverse audiences, including non-computational scientists.

Skills

Python

R

Machine learning

Statistics

Communication

Education

Ph.D. in Computational Biology or related field

Tools

Bioinformatics libraries

UniProt/Ensembl

Job description

About the Role

Our client is seeking a highly analytical Senior Computational Biologist to join their dynamic Drug Discovery team in Mossel Bay . This role is critical for leveraging advanced computational methods to analyze large biological datasets, identify potential drug targets, and guide preclinical research. You will work at the intersection of biology, computer science, and statistics, developing and applying cutting-edge algorithms and predictive models to accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutics. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to significant advancements in pharmaceutical research within a collaborative and forward-thinking scientific community, operating in a remote-first capacity.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement computational pipelines for analyzing high-throughput biological data, including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics.
• Develop and validate predictive models to identify novel drug targets and biomarkers.
• Collaborate with experimental biologists and medicinal chemists to interpret computational findings and guide experimental design.
• Utilize machine learning and statistical methods to uncover complex biological patterns and relationships.
• Contribute to the development of databases and software tools for biological data management and analysis.
• Present complex computational results to diverse audiences, including non-computational scientists.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Computational Biology , Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in computational biology or bioinformatics, with a focus on drug discovery.
• Strong programming skills in Python or R, and experience with bioinformatics libraries and tools.
• Proven experience with statistical modeling, machine learning and data mining techniques.
• Familiarity with biological databases (e.g., UniProt, Ensembl) and scientific literature mining.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a remote team.

Benefits

• A competitive salary with potential for performance-based bonuses and equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Flexible remote work arrangements.
• Professional development opportunities, including online courses and conference participation.
• A stimulating and collaborative virtual research environment focused on advancing drug discovery in Mossel Bay .