Molecular Specialist - Molecular Biology

One of Canada's Best Diversity Employers and Greater Toronto's Top Employers for many consecutive years, William Osler Health System (Osler) provides a safe and supportive health care network to grow your career. Osler is nationally recognized for its commitment to patient safety and is Accredited with Exemplary Standing, the highest rating a Canadian hospital can receive. As a major Ontario hospital system, and home to some of the biggest specialty and emergency departments in the country, Osler serves the 1.3 million residents of Brampton, Etobicoke and surrounding communities. We are proud to offer you incredible exposure to best-in-class health care delivery and challenging hands-on opportunities to stay at the top of your game.

A hospital system built for and by the community, we continue to expand our services to meet the needs of a growing population, creating opportunities for increased hands-on skills development, cross-department training and promotional opportunities. Guided by our accomplished senior leadership team, together we are driving our vision of world-class health care inspired by our people and communities.

At Osler, we invest in careers that go beyond where health care professionals like you can achieve their goals and find deep personal and professional fulfillment. Join our team today!

The Molecular Specialist position is a staff member of the Advanced Diagnostics Department reporting to the Clinical Manager, Advanced Diagnostics. The Molecular Specialist will work with pathologists/hematopathologists and medical laboratory technologists/assistants within the Advanced Diagnostics Division and wider Department of Laboratory Medicine to provide comprehensive somatic genetic testing and reporting for solid tumours and hematological malignancies. This position will combine understanding and expertise in genetics/genomics, bioinformatics and biomedical research. The Molecular Specialist will serve as a subject matter expert in genetics and genetic variant interpretation as well as providing technical expertise in bioinformatics pipeline management, optimization and troubleshooting in addition to various other related duties as required.

Accountabilities:

• Perform a preliminary assessment of NGS results, identifying potentially actionable, pathogenic, or clinically relevant variants.
• Analyze, review and interpret genetic variants from NGS and qPCR-based assays for solid tumors, liquid biopsy and future assays (cfDNA/cfRNA) testing in cancer patients including the identification of gene fusions
• Draft preliminary reports that summarize key findings and variant interpretations for review and final sign-out by the Molecular Pathologist and other staff Pathologists.
• Lead as the primary resource of subject matter expertise and technical content for internal managers, directors, lab medicine clinicians and the technical team (MLAs and MLTs); including external laboratories, vendors and oncologists.
• Develop, manage, and optimize bioinformatics pipelines for NGS data analysis including alignment, variant calling, annotation, and quality control.
• Troubleshoot data processing errors and liaise with sequencing platform vendors (e.g., Thermo Fisher) for technical support.
• Manage secure data storage and computing infrastructure in collaboration with IT teams, ensuring compliance with hospital data privacy standards.
• Draft and update standard operating procedures (SOPs), protocols, and report templates specific to molecular oncology workflows.
• Participate in the development, analysis, evaluation, and implementation of new genetic assays and/or technologies
• Troubleshoot complex molecular test system issues, including software, hardware, and reagent-related problem in coordination with internal teams and external vendor technical support.
• Participate in the preparation of policies, processes and procedures within the quality system to ensure effective operation/compliance with IQMH laboratory accreditation requirements 
• Lead validation efforts for newly developed molecular tests, including preparation of validation plans, documentation, and result analysis.
• Contribute to the quality assurance program and laboratory accreditation compliance (IQMH or equivalent), including participation in internal audits and external proficiency testing.
• Participate in continuing education initiatives as well as supporting quality assurance or research projects
• Lead in teaching and training relevant medical and technical trainees in variant detection and interpretation
• Lead in teaching and training relevant medical and technical trainees in variant detection and interpretation
• Supervise summer student research project (SSRP) students
• Present data and findings at internal and external meetings, sharing insights and expertise with the broader molecular diagnostics and oncology community
• Stay current with advances in clinical genomics and participate in ongoing professional development and continuing education initiatives.
• Contribute to preparation of scientific manuscripts, presentations, and posters for academic opportunities

• Master’s degree in medical Genomics, Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, or related field required
• 2 years of experience in clinical Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data tools, workflows and data analysis (somatic solid tumor and/or liquid biopsy preferred), interpreting data generated from best-practice pipelines for analyzing NGS data, such as variant calling pipelines for genome sequencing
• Technical expertise in a broad range of molecular biology methodologies (nucleic acid extraction methods, primer and probe design, and real-time-PCR among others) and hands-on experience with sequencing modalities including Sanger sequencing and Next-Generation Sequencing.
• Proven familiarity and expertise navigating various public data repositories including data extraction (OncoKB, cBioPortal, Franklin, MyCancerGenome, COSMIC, ClinVar, UCSC, NCBI, etc.); understanding commonly used algorithms for alignment and variant calling; and experience using pathogenicity criteria (AMP or ACMG) as correlated with patient clinical findings
• Experience working with next-generation sequencing data: sequencing quality control, sequence alignment, variant calling and annotation, RNA-sequencing analysis, germline and somatic mutational events, copy number variants etc.
• Data management expertise, including experience developing and maintaining NGS bioinformatics pipelines.
• Experience publishing scientific work, writing and editing scientific materials for external audiences
• Ability to work well under pressure, prioritize issues/workload and complete assigned tasks
• Demonstrated ability to pay close attention to detail and make decisions based on knowledge/experience
• Self-motivated and a team player with a high degree of independence and professionalism to provide high-level genetics expertise to health care providers
• Must demonstrate Osler's Values of Respect, Excellence, Service, Compassion, Innovation and Collaboration

Hours: Currently Days/Evenings, including weekends and statutory holidays (subject to change in accordance with operational requirements)

ANNUAL SALARY:

Minimum: $101,517.00

Maximum: $126,886.50

HOOPP Pension Plan: Secure Your Future with Osler

When you join Osler, you're not just starting a job; you're investing in your future. As part of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), one of Canada’s most reliable and rewarding pension plans, you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing you have a plan in place for your retirement. With Osler contributing $1.26 for every dollar you invest, you’re building a strong foundation for a comfortable retirement. With HOOPP, you can count on a steady, guaranteed monthly income for life. Discover more about how you can secure your financial future here.

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Osler values inclusivity and diversity in the workplace. We welcome and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds. We are committed to providing accessible employment practices that are in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. If you require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, please notify Human Resources at [email protected].

While we thank all applicants, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Any information obtained during the course of recruitment will be used for employment recruitment purposes only, and not for any other purpose.