Bioinformatics Software Engineer & Scientific Lead

Help shape the scientific software that powers bioinformatics research worldwide.

At EMBL-EBI, our bioinformatics services help researchers access and work with biological data at scale. As our Bioinformatics Software Engineer & Scientific Lead, you’ll combine hands-on software development with scientific and technical leadership, helping guide the evolution of Job Dispatcher and other core software products. 

You’ll work closely with scientists, engineers and infrastructure specialists to shape product strategy, prioritise development and deliver reliable, sustainable services that meet the changing needs of the global research community.

About the team

The Software Team within EMBL-EBI’s ITS Service and Operations department develops and maintains centrally provided scientific software, including Job Dispatcher, which provides structured access to run bioinformatical analysis tools on our high performance compute clusters and FiRE, which manages the storage and archiving of over 120Pb of scientific data . Working at the intersection of software engineering, scientific computing and bioinformatics, the team delivers services that support researchers in working with biological data and running computational analyses.

The Role

You’ll combine hands-on software development with scientific and technical leadership, helping shape the strategy, development and long-term sustainability of Job Dispatcher and other software products owned by the team.

Primary Tasks & Responsibilities: 

• Lead software development: Develop, maintain and improve production bioinformatics services and scientific software as an active member of the team.
• Shape product strategy: Work with the team project lead and Head of Services and Operations to define and deliver product roadmaps, technology direction and longer-term development priorities.
• Guide scientific direction: Provide specialist bioinformatics expertise to ensure services remain scientifically relevant, useful and aligned with the needs of the global user community.
• Manage priorities and delivery: Help curate and prioritise the development backlog, coordinating projects, dependencies, risks and technical deliverables.
• Coordinate service updates: Work with EBI service teams to plan and coordinate data updates, particularly for Job Dispatcher.
• Collaborate across teams: Work with scientists, software engineers, infrastructure teams and other stakeholders to deliver and improve reliable scientific services.
• Provide technical leadership: Represent the services in regular tools committee meetings, contribute to the wider ITS leadership community (TMC Plus) and support the evolution and modernisation of bioinformatics services.
• Share knowledge and impact: Promote services through training, conference presentations, scientific publications and service updates, helping users understand and make effective use of the tools.

You Will Have:

• A degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Professional experience in bioinformatics, scientific computing or software engineering, with the ability to apply software development expertise to scientific applications and services.
• Strong programming experience developing and maintaining production software and RESTful APIs, using languages such as Java, TypeScript/JavaScript and Python.
• Experience developing modern web applications using Angular or an equivalent framework.
• Experience with scientific workflow technologies and high-performance computing environments, including Nextflow and job schedulers such as SLURM.
• Experience packaging and deploying bioinformatics tools using containers such as Docker and Singularity/Apptainer.
• Strong experience with Git-based version control, GitLab and CI/CD automation, alongside Linux, scripting, job scheduling, monitoring and production software operations.

You May Also Have: 

• Experience developing or maintaining large-scale, widely used bioinformatics services.
• Experience communicating scientific work through peer-reviewed publications, presentations or other technical and scientific outputs.
• Experience working with biological sequence data, including format conversion, processing and database indexing.
• Familiarity with ServiceNow or similar IT service-management systems and processes, including incident and change management.

Contract Length: 3-Year fixed-term Staff Member contract, renewable to 9 years. 

Working Pattern: This role offers a hybrid working arrangement, with 1-2 days per week on site, including one designated team day to support collaboration and connection.

Salary: Grade 6 or Grade 7, depending on experience. Monthly salary from £3,861.91 (grade 6) or £4,395.66 (grade 7) after tax, plus generous benefits and financial allowances based on individual circumstances. Excluding 12.99% personal pension and insurance contributions.

Next steps / How to Apply: 

*** We plan to advertise the role for up to four weeks, with a scheduled closing date of Thursday, 12th November. However, if we receive a strong field of applications within the first two weeks, we may close the vacancy earlier. The advert will remain open for a minimum of two weeks, making Thursday, 29th October the earliest possible closing date. We therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible. ***

Why join us

Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
 

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.  Watch this video to see how EMBL-EBI makes an impact.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns 
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition public holidays
• Relocation package including installation grant (conditions apply)
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
• Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here. 

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Please take a look at our International Applicants page for further information.  
• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.
• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.
• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date