Senior Bioinformatician - Generative Biology Institute

The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) tackles humanity’s greatest challenges by turning science and technology into impactful global solutions. Focused on areas led by a faculty of world experts, EIT seeks to solve the world’s most challenging problems across four high-risk, high-reward, high-impact humane endeavours: Health, Medical Science and Generative Biology; Food security and Sustainable agriculture; Clean Energy Generation and Storage; and Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

A cornerstone of EIT mission is its upcoming 300,000-square-foot research facility at the Oxford Science Park, set to open in 2027. This cutting-edge campus will feature advanced labs, an oncology and preventative care clinic, and collaborative spaces to strengthen its partnership with the University of Oxford. It will also host the Ellison Scholars, driving innovation for societal benefit.

The Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) aims to overcome two major challenges in making biology engineerable: 1) the ability to precisely synthesize entire genomes, and 2) understanding which DNA sequences will create biological systems that perform desired functions. Solving these challenges will unlock the potential of biology for transformative solutions in health, sustainability, agriculture, and more. GBI will house 30 groups and over 300 researchers, supported by cutting-edge facilities and sustained funding to address global challenges and advance biology engineering.

EIT fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and resilience, valuing diverse expertise to drive sustainable solutions to humanity’s enduring challenges.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a Senior Bioinformatician to lead and deliver expert bioinformatics support to researchers across GBI. This client-facing role involves designing and implementing advanced workflows, driving collaborative analysis projects, and enabling scientific teams to access and benefit from the Bioinformatics group’s expertise.

You will work closely with experimental platforms and research teams to ensure robust, reproducible, and well-documented data analysis pipelines. The role combines technical leadership with scientific insight, contributing directly to the success of GBI’s research programmes in synthetic biology, genome design, and molecular evolution.

Key Responsibilities:

• To provide expert-level data analysis and interpretation for GBI researchers, assisting from conceptualisation through to manuscript preparation and submission.
• To lead and contribute to collaborative analysis projects involving GBI researchers and staff, and external collaborators.
• To develop and implement bioinformatics strategies, programs, and workflows that support the experimental programmes of GBI, including synthetic biology, genome design, and molecular evolution.
• To work closely with researchers and platform staff (e.g. sequencing, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry) to develop and refine computational pipelines for analysing biological data.
• To ensure reproducibility, version control, and documentation for all analyses and pipelines, contributing to open science and collaborative research.
• To organise and prioritise work, operating at the highest standard to defined deadlines.
• To ensure compliance with best practices in biological data handling, ensuring effective integration of biological data with laboratory and experimental metadata.
• To design and deliver high-quality training to GBI staff and researchers and to assist and mentor those working independently.
• To support strategies for effective and timely user engagement, including user-group meetings, seminars, and chat systems.
• To use strategic learning opportunities to maintain and further develop experitise; personally, and as part of efforts to ensure resilience within the group.
• To promote and champion EIT and the work of the GBI, representing the institute at functions and public events.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• An advanced degree in a data-oriented subject (e.g. Bioinformatics, Medical Informatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry).
• Extensive experience delivering bioinformatics analyses in a client-facing capacity, with a proven record evidenced by publications or similar across a range of areas (e.g. RNA- and DNA-based bulk / single cell / spatial, long-read sequencing, DNA conformation and accessibility, image analysis, proteomics, metabolomics, protein structure, high-dimension cytometry).
• Practical experience, or a thorough understanding, of working within a laboratory or scientific research setting; a strong knowledge of the data types, limitations, and challenges across experimental workflows, and of relevant technicques in molecular biology upstream of data generation.
• Expert-level programming skills (R and Python).
• Extensive experience operating in HPC and/or Cloud environments (e.g. SLURM, OCI), strong familiarity with UNIX.
• Experience designing and implementing analysis pipelines (e.g. Nextflow, Snakemake), especially utilising software containers (e.g. Docker, Singularity/Apptainer).
• Demonstrable experience developing version-controlled code, familiarity with common tools (git) and of multi-user development practises.
• Strong verbal and written communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to translate technical solutions into strategic value for the organisation

We offer the following benefits:

• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electrical Car Scheme

Why work for EIT:

At the Ellison Institute, we believe a collaborative, inclusive team is key to our success. We are building a supportive environment where creative risks are encouraged, and everyone feels heard. Valuing emotional intelligence, empathy, respect, and resilience, we encourage people to be curious and to have a shared commitment to excellence. Join us and make an impact!

Terms of Appointment:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford.
• During peak periods, some longer hours may be required and some working across multiple time zones due to the global nature of the programme.