Job Summary: Software you write in the Next-Generation Sequencing Informatics (NGSI) clinical informatics group will influence healthcare decisions for thousands of patients and contribute to research projects with far-ranging impacts on human health. The position requires an individual with very strong software development skills; especially design and implementation of highly available production systems. We're looking for experienced software engineers who are up to that challenge, and who have a track record of working in an environment that demands a high level of quality.
As the HGSC Bioinformatics Core, NGSI manages the production, maintenance and primary analysis of all HGSC genome sequence data, including HiSeq X Ten informatics. This position will be specifically involved in supporting several large clinical projects. Under the direction of the NGSI clinical lead, you will develop features and upgrades to software pipelines for data generation and analysis of next-generation sequence data.
The HGSC was founded in 1996 under the leadership of Dr. Richard Gibbs and is a world leader in genomics. The fundamental interests of the HGSC are in advancing biology and genetics by improved genome technologies. As one of the three large-scale sequencing centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the HGSC provides a unique opportunity to work on the cutting-edge of genomic science in a state of the art institution. Today, the HGSC employs ~ 200 staff, and it occupies more than 36,000 square feet on the 14th, 15th, and 16th floors of the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Building. The HGSC is located on the southwest edge of downtown Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex. The major activity of the HGSC is high-throughput DNA sequence generation and the accompanying analysis. The HGSC is also involved in developing the next generation of DNA sequencing and bioinformatics technologies that will allow greater scientific advances in the future.
REQUIREMENTS: B.S. or equivalent in Bioinformatics, Computer Science or similar field with 3+ years relevant work experience Linux background with at least 3 years hands-on experience working on Unix/Linux terminal and programming with Python, Ruby or Java
Duties Maintain and develop analysis pipelines, including refactoring to improve performance and maintainability Improve maintainability and testability of existing code Support on-going operations for clinical projects Maintain extensive project-specific documentation and best practices Participate in calls and meetings with collaborators Identify novel ways to improve data quality and analysis Provide excellent customer service to other HGSC groups and outside collaborators through ticketing systems
Desirable Skills and Experience: Preferred Experience: Familiarity with next-gen Sequencing analysis tools (e.g., BWA, vcftools, BEDtools, bamUtils, SAMtools, Picard) and common genomics data formats (e.g., FASTQ, BAM, VCF)
Job Summary:
Software you write in the Next-Generation Sequencing Informatics (NGSI) clinical informatics group will influence healthcare decisions for thousands of patients and contribute to research projects with far-ranging impacts on human health. The position requires an individual with very strong software development skills; especially design and implementation of highly available production systems. We're looking for experienced software engineers who are up to that challenge, and who have a track record of working in an environment that demands a high level of quality.
As the HGSC Bioinformatics Core, NGSI manages the production, maintenance and primary analysis of all HGSC genome sequence data, including HiSeq X Ten informatics. This position will be specifically involved in supporting several large clinical projects. Under the direction of the NGSI clinical lead, you will develop features and upgrades to software pipelines for data generation and analysis of next-generation sequence data.
The HGSC was founded in 1996 under the leadership of Dr. Richard Gibbs and is a world leader in genomics. The fundamental interests of the HGSC are in advancing biology and genetics by improved genome technologies. As one of the three large-scale sequencing centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the HGSC provides a unique opportunity to work on the cutting-edge of genomic science in a state of the art institution. Today, the HGSC employs ~ 200 staff, and it occupies more than 36,000 square feet on the 14th, 15th, and 16th floors of the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Building. The HGSC is located on the southwest edge of downtown Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex. The major activity of the HGSC is high-throughput DNA sequence generation and the accompanying analysis. The HGSC is also involved in developing the next generation of DNA sequencing and bioinformatics technologies that will allow greater scientific advances in the future.
REQUIREMENTS:
B.S. or equivalent in Bioinformatics, Computer Science or similar field with 3+ years relevant work experience
Linux background with at least 3 years hands-on experience working on Unix/Linux terminal and programming with Python, Ruby or Java
Duties
Maintain and develop analysis pipelines, including refactoring to improve performance and maintainability
Improve maintainability and testability of existing code
Support on-going operations for clinical projects
Maintain extensive project-specific documentation and best practices
Participate in calls and meetings with collaborators
Identify novel ways to improve data quality and analysis
Provide excellent customer service to other HGSC groups and outside collaborators through ticketing systems
Desirable Skills and Experience:
Preferred Experience:
Familiarity with next-gen Sequencing analysis tools (e.g., BWA, vcftools, BEDtools, bamUtils, SAMtools, Picard) and common genomics data formats (e.g., FASTQ, BAM, VCF)
This is my dream job. Yet, offering a 65-75k salary for what is essentially a penta-glob of DBA/ops/programming/testing/manager positions is really weak.
Using most of the tools, its very akin to a scan the barcode at a cash register job and look at the results. It is when the scanner beeps in error, that the experience you pay for comes into play. Not to mention, the cost of living in Houston isn't exactly cheap.
This same wage-to-skill disparity for academic-related jobs occurs all over. 75k is actually higher than I would expect for this role in Houston -- some similar jobs in major cities along the East Coast offer about the same pay. Many of these jobs are also contracted for 1-year periods and are contingent on an adviser or project leader continuing to get certain funding from a sponsor organization.
So the pay is usually low, the cost of living is usually high, the nature of the job doesn't provide much job security, and they demand a huge amount of experience and a willingness to work across many other arbitrary areas (e.g. you're hired because of knowledge of sequencing techniques, but really you'll spend time putting out fires in some legacy Ruby on Rails system that sponsors use for some legacy interactive website or something).
These jobs are often the worst of all worlds. It's hard to see how they are able to attract qualified candidates, and likely they aren't. Most likely is that they end up compromising as much as possible on the skill and quality of the person hired, so that they don't have to compete with a higher wage or more stable permanent employment, and so, at least in an IT capacity, you have to be worried before even applying about why your potential colleagues were willing to agree to these particular trade-offs.
It's very sad and disenfranchising because these kinds of jobs used to represent a way to earn a living without needing to engage with traditional corporate bureaucracy. But until these sorts of academic roles begin offering competitive wages and stable, permanent employment, it's probably better to not even dwell on it. If your eyes scan over something matching "academic ... lab", just move on.
It's bioinformatics. Pretty typical, frankly with only requiring a BS it seems like a good deal (though not a ton of people have a BS in bioinfo).
I have similar degree and looking at a lot of jobs in Bay Area, those mostly require MS/PhD and are paying between 70-100k. It seems a lot of these positions want a hardcore programmer who also has a really great scientific background, but pay is lower than a great programmer with no scientific background would get in any other industry.
Onsite, Houston, TX
apply online here: https://www.hgsc.bcm.edu/careers/senior-bioinformatics-progr...
Job Summary: Software you write in the Next-Generation Sequencing Informatics (NGSI) clinical informatics group will influence healthcare decisions for thousands of patients and contribute to research projects with far-ranging impacts on human health. The position requires an individual with very strong software development skills; especially design and implementation of highly available production systems. We're looking for experienced software engineers who are up to that challenge, and who have a track record of working in an environment that demands a high level of quality.
As the HGSC Bioinformatics Core, NGSI manages the production, maintenance and primary analysis of all HGSC genome sequence data, including HiSeq X Ten informatics. This position will be specifically involved in supporting several large clinical projects. Under the direction of the NGSI clinical lead, you will develop features and upgrades to software pipelines for data generation and analysis of next-generation sequence data. The HGSC was founded in 1996 under the leadership of Dr. Richard Gibbs and is a world leader in genomics. The fundamental interests of the HGSC are in advancing biology and genetics by improved genome technologies. As one of the three large-scale sequencing centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the HGSC provides a unique opportunity to work on the cutting-edge of genomic science in a state of the art institution. Today, the HGSC employs ~ 200 staff, and it occupies more than 36,000 square feet on the 14th, 15th, and 16th floors of the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Building. The HGSC is located on the southwest edge of downtown Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex. The major activity of the HGSC is high-throughput DNA sequence generation and the accompanying analysis. The HGSC is also involved in developing the next generation of DNA sequencing and bioinformatics technologies that will allow greater scientific advances in the future.
REQUIREMENTS: B.S. or equivalent in Bioinformatics, Computer Science or similar field with 3+ years relevant work experience Linux background with at least 3 years hands-on experience working on Unix/Linux terminal and programming with Python, Ruby or Java
Duties Maintain and develop analysis pipelines, including refactoring to improve performance and maintainability Improve maintainability and testability of existing code Support on-going operations for clinical projects Maintain extensive project-specific documentation and best practices Participate in calls and meetings with collaborators Identify novel ways to improve data quality and analysis Provide excellent customer service to other HGSC groups and outside collaborators through ticketing systems
Desirable Skills and Experience: Preferred Experience: Familiarity with next-gen Sequencing analysis tools (e.g., BWA, vcftools, BEDtools, bamUtils, SAMtools, Picard) and common genomics data formats (e.g., FASTQ, BAM, VCF)