Director of Scientific Research

The Department of Structural Biology at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital is seeking to hire a Director of the Single-Molecule imaging Center (SMC) to lead an interdisciplinary team, whose backgrounds span computer science, engineering, applied math, biophysics and biology, to advance the frontiers of single-molecule research while also implementing focused strategies to work with non-experts seeking to incorporate single-molecule methods into their discovery pipeline.

Summary

The ideal candidate has extensive experience developing and utilizing single-molecule fluorescence microscopy methods to reveal new insights in biology and/or medicine and sufficient technical background to design and implement hardware and software solutions that facilitate instrument stability, experimental throughput and Center accessibility as well as teach and disseminate knowledge to non-experts.

The mission of the SMC at St. Jude is to push the frontiers of single-molecule methods development across multiple modalities, while making these technologies accessible to a broad user base of biology-focused scientists within the department of Structural Biology, and across the Institution and its affiliates.

The SMC is integrated into a community of institutionally-funded laboratories and innovation centers at St. Jude, each with their own dedicated staff, including the Cryo-EM Center, the Protein Technology Center, the Cell and Tissue Imaging Center, The Center for Bioimage Informatics, The Center for Applied Bioinformatics, the Center of Excellence for Data-driven Discovery and the Center for Advanced Genome Engineering (CAGE).

The SMC houses a variety of cutting-edge single-molecule instruments, both in vitro and in living cells, with a mission to utilize these technologies for high-impact projects that advance the understanding and treatment of catastrophic childhood diseases, including infectious diseases and cancers. This includes instruments for confocal time-correlated single-photon counting (PicoQuant MT200), spinning disk confocal, objective-based TIRF, prism-based TIRF, combined fluorescence and optical trap (Lumicks C-Trap), and DNA curtain measurements. While some instruments have commercial foundations, most have been customized, or home-built, to maximize data quality, throughput, time resolution, and ease of use by non-experts. To facilitate engagement and the data colletion-to-publication processes, the SMCmaintains bespoke software tools for instrument control, data acquisition (FLASH), and data analysis (SPARTAN) softwares,which are disseminated for widespread use by the single-molecule community.

The SMC is integrated with other resources at St Jude that provide access to 3D printers, laser engravers, an on-site machine shop for creating custom-engineered microscope hardware, high-performance computing resources for software development and data management, as well as technology infrastructures for surface chemistry and microfluidics.

Technologies within the SMC have enabled discoveries in a wide variety of biological systems, including the cystic fibrosis transmembrane receptor (CFTR), β-arrestins, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), transporters, riboswitches, periplasmic amino acid binding proteins, bacterial/human ribosomes, whole viral particles, and more.

The successful candidate will continue this history of success by guiding collaborators to achieve single molecule resolution to a wide variety of clinically important biological systems.

Responsibilities

• Direct Center activity on a day-to-day basis to ensure staff are efficiently tasked, instruments are properly functioning and correctly utilized, and data is appropriately managed.

• Lead the planning and implementation of experimental strategies and next generation instruments to ensure the Center stays at the technological frontier.

• Oversee and contribute to the development of software tools for instrument control, data analysis, and project management, pursuing continued technical advances while ensuring seamless operations.

• Lead high-impact collaborations with laboratories at St Jude to leverage single-molecule methods for investigations of diverse biological systems with scientists who may not have previous experience.

• Lead internal projects that advance the state-of-the-art methods enabling single-molecule research, including the design of new instrumentation that implements innovations in surface chemistry, fluorophore engineering, optical treatments, microfluidic strategies, camera technologies, software developments, and algorithms for robust analyses.

• Establish policies and procedures for users and staff to maximize the productivity of Center resources and keep the instruments performing optimally.

• Serve as manager for SMC staff members with diverse technical backgrounds.

• Participate and contribute to seminars and conferences to present research findings, keep up-to-date on scientific research and emerging imaging technologies, disseminate knowledge about single-molecule methods and quantitation and recruit talent to the SMC and St. Jude.

Minimum Education and/or Training

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant scientific discipline is required.

Minimum Experience:

• 10+ years of experience in relevant technical field (industry or academia) is required with a Bachelor's degree.
• 8+ years of experience in relevant technical field is required with a Master’s degree.
• 5+ years of experience in relevant technical field is required with a Ph.D.
• Significant experience in a research functional area with experience managing mid-large teams in a leadership capacity with focus on both achievement of objectives as well as critical skill-building preferred.
• Experience having led large-scale projects/processes through to implementation preferred.
• Experience with operational management., budget planning, and stakeholder and resource management preferred.
• Prior experience in building external connections with peers, emerging technology communities, and expert networks preferred.
• Experience driving research objectives across area through collaboration with internal and external stakeholders preferred.
• Proven performance in earlier role/comparable role.

Desired Experience

• Ph.D. in physical sciences (physics, biology, computer science, etc.) with 10 years post-graduate experience.
• Strong publication record demonstrating the power of single-molecule research to solve important questions in biology and/or medicine.
• Experience building and maintaining custom single-molecule platforms.
• Software engineering experience with MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, and C++. Experience with version control and issue tracking with GitHub.

Better at Work. Better at Life.

When you work at St. Jude, you’ll join a highly collaborative work culture that inspires you every day to be your best.  With opportunities for learning and growth, you can shape a career path that is right for you while also enjoying all the benefits and stability of working for a world-class institution. This includes work-life balance with generous paid time-off and on-campus conveniences that make life a little easier. Join us and you’ll quickly see why St. Jude is consistently ranked by our employees on Glassdoor as a “Best Place to Work.”  

Compensation

In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $125,840 - $238,160 per year for the role of Director of Scientific Research, Single-molecule Imaging Center.

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