JOB DESCRIPTION

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

This role reports to Director, Applied Genomics Centre  

SUMMARY

The Computational Biologist will play a significant leadership role in research projects within the Applied Genomics Centre (AGC) by conceptualizing, designing and building bioinformatic pipelines and protocols for applied research projects.  They will also be responsible for organizing and maintaining large data sets and bioinformatic tools for the AGC. This individual will work closely with industry partners under the supervision and direction of the AGC Director. Where appropriate, they may also help supervise and train student researchers working in the AGC laboratories.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide research leadership under the direction of the AGC’s Director:
• Work with industry partners and the AGC Director to conceptualize applied research projects with significant computational biology and bioinformatic components.
• Lead the acquisition and organization of genomics data within the AGC for downstream computational and bioinformatic analysis. 
• Access and download genetic data from public databases and AGC Illumina MiSeq and iScan for processing and analysis. 
• Download open source bioinformatics tools and customize as needed for AGC applied research projects. 
• Design custom bioinformatics pipelines for AGC genomic data analysis; specifically for NGS data, SNP Array data and qPCR.
• Assist in preparing reports and presentations, collaboratively with the AGC Director.
• Provide on-site supervision and training to undergraduate student researchers as needed.
• Be responsible for organizing and maintaining bioinformatics scripts, tools and documentation.
• Other duties as assigned. 

QUALIFICATIONS

• MSc (PhD preferred) in genetics, bioinformatics or computational biology. Must have significant demonstrated experience and proficiency in computational biology and/or bioinformatics. Level of experience will determine pay rate.
• Must be proficient in programming with Python and R.
• Must be proficient in working in Unix/Linux environments.
• Must be proficient using bioinformatic tools for genomic analysis such as: SAMtools, BAMtools, VCFtools, Bowtie2, GATK, BWA, and QIIME2.
• Must have experience working with Compute Canada, Slurm and PBS.
• Must be proficient at writing documentation for bioinformatics pipelines.  
• Must be familiar with Ensembl, NCBI and UCSC databases and associated tools. 
• Must have experience with data analysis and visualization of genomic data in R. Experience with R packages dplyr, ggplot, tidyR, plotly preferred. 
• Demonstrated experience analyzing whole genome sequence data, amplicon sequence data, QTL analysis, SNP calling, NGS library prep, and GBS.

Does this role sound like it was made for you, yet you don’t check every box?

We at KPU understand that experiences and qualifications may look differently for everyone and, if this job description is of interest to you, we encourage you to apply.

Note to Applicants:

Kwantlen Polytechnic University welcomes and encourages applications from equity deserving groups and diverse experiences including, but not limited to, Indigenous people, racialized people, people with disabilities, and members of the 2S/LGBTQIA+ community.

If there are any barriers that you are experiencing or an accommodation that we can provide to support you through the application process, please reach out to us at humanresources@kpu.ca.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

We thank all applicants for their interest in employment with KPU. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted. 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University is committed to protecting the safety and welfare of employees, students, and the general public, and upholding the reputation and integrity of the University. For this reason, final applicants will be asked to undergo a background check.