Senior Bioinformatician

State of North Carolina•Wake County, NC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Bioinformatician serves as the bioinformatics lead within the Infectious Diseases Unit at the NC State Laboratory of Public Health, supporting sequencing and pathogen-surveillance activities across multiple laboratory programs. The position oversees bioinformatic analysis and the development, evaluation, and implementation of whole genome sequencing (WGS) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflows within the Sequencing and Bioinformatics Response (SaBR) Unit. It develops and maintains CLIA-compliant data-processing pipelines that support epidemiological investigations and contribute to the diagnosis, treatment, surveillance, and control of communicable diseases. The role provides technical direction for quality assurance, workflow maintenance, and problem resolution; prepares and updates standard operating procedures and method documentation; and leads staff training in bioinformatics tools, workflows, and analytical techniques. It also serves as a co-training lead for the Mid-Atlantic Region, developing, delivering, and documenting training and reporting on grant-funded activities. The position works with laboratory leadership, unit managers, and internal and external partners to ensure workflows meet laboratory testing needs and public-health priorities. The Molecular Epidemiology, Sequencing and Bioinformatics group performs complex laboratory testing to identify and characterize human pathogens of public-health significance. Its work includes NGS, real-time PCR, and other advanced molecular detection methods, with results supporting pathogen detection, identification, and surveillance by state and local health officials.

Requirements

Doctoral degree in molecular biology, medical genetics, microbiology, immunology, analytical chemistry, or a related laboratory field from an appropriately accredited institution and one year of clinical laboratory or research experience; OR a master's degree in one of these fields and two years of clinical laboratory or research experience; OR a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and four years of clinical laboratory or research experience; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice To Haves

Expertise in bioinformatics and genomics, demonstrated through support of analytical workflows that integrate epidemiological principles and public-health laboratory practices.
Experience developing and implementing bioinformatic workflows and pipelines using workflow managers such as Nextflow and container platforms such as Docker, with proficiency in R, Python, and command-line tools.
Demonstrated success presenting complex bioinformatics concepts to small and large groups in formats suited to varied technical audiences.
A track record of leading a technical team of bioinformatics-focused scientists, including guiding workflow development, coordinating analytical tasks, and supporting problem-solving activities.
Proficiency applying computational tools, scripting languages, and workflow-management systems to ensure accuracy, reproducibility, and efficiency in bioinformatics analyses.

Responsibilities

Oversee bioinformatic analyses and workflow development within the Sequencing and Bioinformatics Response (SaBR) Unit.
Develop, evaluate, and implement whole genome sequencing (WGS) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) workflows to support communicable-disease surveillance.
Create and maintain CLIA-compliant bioinformatics pipelines for processing WGS/NGS datasets used in epidemiological investigations.
Collaborate with laboratory leadership and unit managers on cross-cutting method development and integration of new sequencing approaches.
Provide professional and technical direction for quality-assurance practices, workflow maintenance, and problem-resolution activities related to bioinformatics processes.
Prepare and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) and documentation for bioinformatics methods used in laboratory operations.
Lead staff training on bioinformatics tools, workflows, and analytical techniques within the Infectious Diseases Unit.
Serve as a co-training lead for the Mid-Atlantic Region by developing, delivering, and documenting bioinformatics training and reporting on associated grant deliverables.
Support pathogen-surveillance activities by ensuring accurate and timely processing and analysis of sequencing data for public-health decision-making.
Coordinate with internal and external partners to ensure bioinformatics workflows align with laboratory testing needs and public-health priorities.