Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Senior Scientist

Johnson & Johnson•Spring House, PA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a highly motivated senior scientist to implement and lead our NGS platform as part of cell line development and genetic characterization for therapeutic proteins. The candidate will be a member of the Cell Engineering and Analytical Sciences group and be an integral part of next generation technology development for biologics production cell lines. The scientist will be responsible for continuous improvement, automation implementation, and leading an NGS platform including nucleic acid isolation, library preparation, instrument operation & qualification, and bioinformatic data analysis & visualization. The scientist will use the NGS data combined with DNA copy number, cell culture, metabolite, process, and product quality data of the secreted protein, to better inform the data-driven selection of high producing manufacturing cell lines, as well as to identify trends in cell lines with high productivity and optimal product quality to enable metabolic engineering of the host cell line.

Requirements

Minimum of a B.S. degree in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Data Science, Chemical Engineering, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, or related scientific field with 12+ years of experience performing progressively advanced data analysis on cell culture process, protein expression, and/or metabolism data; OR a Master’s degree with 6+ years of experience of experience performing progressively advanced data analysis on cell culture process, protein expression, and/or metabolism data; OR a PhD with 3+ years of experience of experience performing progressively advanced data analysis on cell culture process, protein expression, and/or metabolism data.
Strong bench skills with routine molecular biology lab techniques such a nucleic acid extraction, PCR and ddPCR.
Extensive knowledge of NGS platforms, including their mechanisms and technical limitations.
Experience with NGS platforms (Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies) and NGS library preparation.
Basic understanding and/or willingness to grow computational skills in Unix/Linux command line scripting and data management flows on high performance computing clusters.
Broad experience in genomics data analysis including differential expression, transcript characterization, and mutation detection.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and connect with different functional groups and people at multiple levels.
Excellent social, organizational, verbal, and written communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Tecan Automation.
High content biological data management and analysis and presentation.
An understanding of mammalian cell culture and protein expression and analysis.
Familiarity with bioreactor process and mammalian cell metabolism.
Strong work ethic, adapt to changes and be creative.

Responsibilities

NGS platform including instrument operation, automation, qualification, and integration into workflow, as well as staff training and documentation.
Perform a wide range of complex high-throughput Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation techniques including Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies long read.
DNA and RNA isolation, quantification, fragmentation, quality assessment, PCR, and ddPCR.
Design, troubleshoot, and optimize complex NGS-based algorithms.
Integrate and analyze NGS data including differential expression, transcript characterization, integration mapping, and mutation detection.
Use and visualize high content molecular data analysis tools.
Develop tools for bench scientists and senior leaders to visualize data from the department.
Identifying trends in the department’s data to drive process changes.
Coordinate data aggregation from cross-functional teams relevant to the identification of lead manufacturing cell lines.
Craft and direct research projects related to upstream process development including metabolic/process modeling.
Design experiments, analyze data, troubleshoot, provide detailed training and mentorship to colleagues, contribute to project teams, and maintain detailed records for laboratory notebooks and other technical documents.
Present scientific data at internal & external meetings/conferences and publish results in peer-reviewed journals.