Junior Research Engineer in bioinformatics for genomics

Job Reference
743_24_LS_CB_RE1
Position
Junior Research Engineer in bioinformatics for genomics (RE1)
Closing Date
Tuesday, 31 December, 2024
Reference: 743_24_LS_CB_RE1
Job title: Junior Research Engineer in bioinformatics for genomics (RE1)
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses Mare Nostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for Euro HPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
The Genome Informatics unit led by Miguel Vázquez, is looking for a junior technician to work in the field of bioinformatics for genomics. The project will involve implementing genomic analysis pipelines and running them using a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster, such as Mare Nostrum 5, over genomic data coming from collaborators in a research project.
The successful candidate will join a small team that works in close collaboration with groups within the Life Sciences department, led by ICREA professor Alfonso Valencia; offering them assistance in their work on different aspects of computational biology, ranging from bioinformatics for genomics and proteomics to computational biochemistry and text mining. Additionally, the team contributes the several national and international research projects in different areas in intersection between biomedicine, HPC, and AI, with a strong component of genomics. The Researcher will work in a highly sophisticated HPC environment, will have access to systems and computational infrastructures, and will establish collaborations with experts in different areas.
El contrato se financia con cargo a la ayuda PMP21/00090 concedida por el Instituto de Salud Carlos III, financiada por el Instituto de Salud
Carlos III (ISCIII) y con posible cofinanciación con Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER "Una manera de hacer Europa"), hasta el 31/12/2025.
Key Duties
- Contribute to the project as a bioinformatician analyzing their genomics data
- Run analysis pipelines and present results
- Implement pipelines for new analyses in a workflow manager language, such as Nextflow
- Develop new methodological approaches to meet the particularities of the data
Requirements
- Education
- Degree in science or engineering with sufficient knowledge and interest in biology or bachelor’s in biology, biotechnology, or medicine.
- MSc in data science, machine learning or similar or computational biology will be a plus
- Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Previous experience on genomics or strong understanding of the fundamentals
- Strong programming skills in languages such as Python (numpy, pandas, scipy/scikit-learn, pytorch, matplotlib, seaborn) or Ruby
- Knowledge of UNIX/Linux.
- Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Familiarity with genomics analysis tools: alignment, variant calling, etc.
- Familiarity with workflow managers
- Prior research experience in bioinformatics or computational biology
- Fluency in spoken and written English
- Competences
- Ability to work both independently and within a team.
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Ability to learn quickly and adapt to new technologies and methodologies.
- Good communication and presentation skills.
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Life Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: 01/01/2025
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be made through BSC website and contain:
- A full CV in English including contact details
- A Cover Letter with a statement of interest in English, including two contacts for further references - Applications without this document will not be considered
In accordance with the OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for every vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will start the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. A profile questionnaire as well as a technical exercise may be required during the process.
The panel will make a final decision and all candidates who had contacts with them will receive a feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC we are seeking continuous improvement in our recruitment processes, for any suggestions or feedback/complaints about our Recruitment Processes, please contact recruitment (at) bsc (dot) es.
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Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
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This position is reserved for candidates who meet the requirements and have the legal status of disabled persons with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%. In case there are no applicants with disabilities that meet the requirements, the rest of the candidates without declared disability will be evaluated.

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