Scientist III, Bioinformatics

Thermo Fisher Scientific • Carlsbad, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

As part of the Bioinformatics R&D team within the Clinical Next Generation Sequencing Division, this role supports primer design and the development of targeted sequencing panels, as well as building pipelines and algorithms for next-generation sequencing (NGS). The team empowers scientists to harness genomics to drive scientific discovery and advance clinical research in personalized medicine.

Requirements

• Proficiency in Python and shell scripting
• Hands-on experience with bioinformatics production systems
• Experience with sequence analysis tools (BLAST, MAFFT/Clustal, Bowtie/BWA, samtools/bedtools) and strong understanding of genomic databases and annotations (GenBank/RefSeq, ENSEMBL, UCSC)
• Working knowledge of statistical modeling, optimization, or machine learning applied to genomic or assay-design data
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future
• Must be able to pass a comprehensive background check and drug screen

Nice To Haves

• PhD in bioinformatics, statistics, genomics, computational biology, computer science or related field; or MS with 3+ years of relevant industry experience
• Experience with targeted NGS sequencing, Ampliseq technology or PCR primer design is highly preferred
• Experience applying modeling or machine learning approaches to support assay performance prediction, off-target assessment, QC flagging, or design-rule optimization is preferred
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and detail-oriented
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills
• Commitment to delivering high-quality results with integrity and professionalism

Responsibilities

• Design assays for custom targeted sequencing panels for external and internal researchers
• Understand key scientific questions and translate them into effective assay design strategies
• Partner with external customers to understand project requirements and deliver high-quality design solutions that meet their needs
• Collaborate cross-functionally with molecular biologists, product management, and other bioinformatics and software team members to support new product development, launch, troubleshooting, and optimization
• Develop, maintain, and operate bioinformatics pipelines for assay design, data mining and analysis
• Improve assay designs through iterative analysis of sequencing data and development of heuristics, optimization methods, and algorithms
• Evaluate, implement, and scale new technologies and methods to optimize and automate pipelines for primer design

Benefits

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs
• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement
• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO)
• 10 paid holidays annually
• Paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave)
• Accident and life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan
• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior