Bioinformatics Manager, U.S. Lab Services

LGC, Biosearch Technologies is looking for an experienced bioinformatics professional and people leader to join its U.S. team as Bioinformatics Manager. The Bioinformatics Manager is responsible for planning, leading, and improving the company’s bioinformatics operations, with a focus on U.S. lab services operations. The Manager will oversee a team of bioinformaticians and perform organizational and analysis duties to meet the company's operational goals. This individual is responsible for managing, contributing to, and improving processes to deliver data, ensuring it is high-quality, within budget and on time. The Manager will serve as a cross-functional subject matter expert and partner, interacting regularly with members of their team (on-site and remote), other teams within the organization, and the company’s external clients.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each of the following essential functions satisfactorily:

• Manage the daily bioinformatics activities of a team of bioinformaticians (on-site and remote), also directing and participating in quality assurance procedures and project execution
• Assist in troubleshooting analyses and pipelines, as needed
• Develop, execute and review strategies to improve data analyses and pipelines for efficiency and quality
• Coordinate and collaborate with colleagues from a European-based team of bioinformaticians to develop and maintain shared analysis pipelines
• Communicate with clients to understand project requirements, analysis needs and potential challenges, and effectively describe analysis results or issues if encountered
• Be aware of, and make necessary contributions to, the achievement of quarterly and annual company operational targets
• Interact with members of the Sales, R&D and Operational department as well as clients to coordinate execution of commercial projects
• Collaborate and coordinate with other departments to achieve any of the above as needed
• Responsible for personnel activities of direct reports including: budget awareness, staffing, training, performance evaluations, and setting employee objectives linked to business initiatives and other key performance indicators
• Manage direct reports and create appropriate conditions for them to carry out their responsibilities successfully. Plan and direct staffing, training and performance evaluations to develop and control operational programs
• Stay current in the industry by attending educational opportunities, conferences, and workshops, reading publications, and maintaining personal and professional networks
• Support business and customer needs by performing other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Biology, Computer Science, Genetics or another related field
• 5 years of progressive experience in bioinformatics, molecular biology and DNA sequencing
• Proven ability to effectively manage a technical team and provide technical guidance on complex initiatives to achieve project and business goals
• Demonstrated track record to lead, manage, and motivate team members through direct line management or influence
• Detailed knowledge and experience using industry standard tools for computation and analysis of DNA sequence data (Illumina) and downstream analyses for breeding or evolutionary applications
• Fluency in the English language as well as common scripting languages (at least Bash, Python and R)
• Knowledge of principles and methods for Illumina sequencing library preparation
• Knowledge of genetics as it pertains to breeding or evolutionary biology and how genotyping data are typically applied by clients

Preferred Qualifications:

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Genetics or another related field. Familiarity using genetic data for phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses
• Experience in pipeline development for sequencing-based genotyping, variant calling and primer/probe design as well as experience with code versioning tools
• Knowledge of Sequence Capture probe design and analysis
• Understand how sequence and genetic data are collected, analyzed and interpreted to uncover patterns and trends
• Knowledge of experimental variables that impact DNA sequencing and genotyping approaches
• Experience working for a life sciences company
• Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, hiring, and training