Project Manager

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is seeking an experienced Project Manager to lead the operational execution of the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database (AFDB) — one of the world’s largest openly accessible resources for protein structure predictions. The AFDB is a high-impact, collaborative project at the forefront of structural biology, AI, and open science.

As the AFDB Project Manager, you will play a central role in driving the delivery of new features, managing timelines, and ensuring the effective collaboration of technical and scientific teams. Working closely with the PDBe Coordinator and PDBe project leaders, you will help shape the roadmap, align internal and external stakeholders, and ensure the database evolves in step with community needs. This position offers a rare opportunity to contribute to one of EMBL-EBI’s high-impact services, supporting AI-driven biological discovery on a global scale.

Your role

• Operational Oversight and Project Delivery

• Take ownership of AFDB’s operational planning, milestone tracking, and release coordination

• Lead backlog refinement and feature prioritisation based on internal goals, user feedback, and partner requirements

• Drive continuous improvement by identifying bottlenecks, reallocating resources, and ensuring accountability across teams
   

Cross-functional Team coordination

• Guide the daily work of developers, bioinformaticians, and UX specialists, helping teams stay aligned on scope, capacity, and direction

• Collaborate across PDBe, Google DeepMind, and EMBL-EBI infrastructure partners to ensure robust data and system integration

• Facilitate teamwork, including sprint planning, retrospectives, and working group check-ins
   

Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

• Serve as a primary point of contact for AFDB operations, providing regular updates on progress, risks, and opportunities.

• Manage and synthesise input from helpdesk, training events, and user surveys to inform feature development and outreach

• Support reporting and communications to Google DeepMind
   

Monitoring, Reporting, and Insight Generation

• Oversee AFDB usage analytics and performance reporting using tools such as Looker

• Coordinate the collection and analysis of training/event feedback and helpdesk metrics to guide roadmap decisions

• Work with the PDBe Coordinator to evaluate and track the scientific impact of new features and services
   

You have

• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams in technical, scientific, or data-driven environments

• Proven ability to manage large-scale projects with evolving requirements and tight deadlines

• Familiarity with agile or hybrid project management methodologies and backlog ownership

• Strong interpersonal and organisational skills with a focus on clarity, structure, and consensus-building

• Confidence representing the team across internal and external stakeholder groups
   

You might also have

• Experience working with biological data, open science platforms, or research infrastructure

• Background in software development, data curation, or technical product ownership

• Familiarity with analytics platforms (e.g. Looker), collaborative tools (e.g. Jira, GitHub, Confluence), and user feedback workflows

• Knowledge of FAIR principles and community-driven scientific initiatives

Other helpful information:

Hybrid Working - At EMBL-EBI we are pleased to offer hybrid working options for all our employees. A dedicated desk will be available everyday, but our team work a minimum of two days on site and three from home.

Interviews - We plan to hold introductory meetings with selected candidates remotely starting in November.

Contract length: Project based contract until September 2028

Grade: 6 depending on qualifications and experience, monthly salary at £3,695 after tax but excluding pension and insurance contributions. Plus generous benefits

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 (if required)

• 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 strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ & individuals from all nationalities. 

• 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