Principal Bioinformatics Scientist, Translational Informatics

This is what you will do:

As a member of the Translational and Integrative Informatics group within the Bioinformatics and Data Science department, the successful candidate will be an innovative and collaborative computational scientist with in-depth knowledge of clinical trials, translational analytics, multi-omics data analysis, and biomarker discovery and development. The candidate should be skilled in deriving hypothesis from result analysis and using such results in deciphering complex disease mechanisms.

The candidate should be a team player expected to critically analyse and interpret data from a variety of sources as well as help researchers and clinicians in designing discovery/validation experiments. The candidate should be able to communicate complex approaches clearly to non-bioinformatics experts and work alongside scientists from translational, biomarker and clinical groups in translating findings into actionable insights to guide validation assays, understanding disease mechanism for target selection.

You will be responsible for:

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop translational strategies and analyze clinical and multi-omics data sets (genomics, transcriptomics “bulk/single-cell”, proteomics “Olink – Somalogic – Mass spec”). Utilize public and proprietary dataset to inform patient stratification and biomarker strategies; extract insights from clinical and preclinical data and connect them to therapeutic endpoints, exploring new indications for key targets Develop and apply novel bioinformatic methods to identify potential biomarkers and causal/driver targets prioritization. Be comfortable in adapting and applying state-of-the-art AI and Machine Learning approaches to develop novel ways in discovering new therapeutic targets. Provide in-depth biological context through different pathway enrichment analysis and deep understanding of the mechanism of the disease of interest and how analysis results glue the computational findings with what is known about the disease from literature and how this understanding leads to the identification of target/biomarker list with most promising outcome for validation. Collaborate with biologists, geneticists, and clinicians to translate bioinformatics findings into clinically meaningful insights. Coordinate with our data engineering teams following the FAIR principles of data aimed to empower data-driven hypothesis studies. Recruiting, mentoring, and managing a team of skilled contractors and employees that can leverage and extend your impact in the organization.

You will need to have:

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Statistics, Applied Math, Computer Science or related fields with a minimum of 5 years of post-PhD experience in pharma/biotech industry, preferably in translational bioinformatics.
• Strong expertise in the processing and analysis of omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics).
• Expert hands-on programming experience in R AND Python.
• Experience adapting different AI/ML algorithms for drug discovery purposes.
• Experience in running data analyses in high performance computing and cloud environment.
• Outstanding analytical, leadership and interpersonal skills.
• The duties of this role are generally conducted in an office environment. As is typical of an office-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to: use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.

We would prefer for you to have:

• Experience working in pharma/biotech industry with familiarity of drug discovery pipelines from target ID, drug triage, and life-cycle management.
• Good knowledge of working with clinical data, start from data processing and genomic data analysis, all the way to patient stratification and inclusion/exclusion criteria for clinical trial design.

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.