Lead Bioinformatician

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it , our most valuable asset is our people. Here you'll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning; bold ideas; courage an d passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.
Our most valuable asset is our people .
At ZS we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences and belief systems-the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are and
make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are part of your success here. Learn more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces, obtaining the resources they need to thrive, and sharing the messages they are passionate about.
ZS' R&D Excellence Practice brings together experts in Strategy, Clinical Execution, Data Sciences and Technology to empower client organizations achieve their passion for patient care, science and business success. Through our "Lifecycle Evidence Strategy", "Clinical Trial Optimization", "Medical Affairs" and "Real World Evidence" services, we deliver impact where it matters, from early drug development to commercialization. This role will be aligned with ZS R&D Excellence Practice Area supporting our business consulting and analytics services across multiple clients.
Responsibilities
Engages with biomedical science stakeholders to understand the expected bioinformatics analytics outcomes by:

• Learning about and understanding the hypothesis being tested, the entities involved (molecules, cells lines, samples, pathways, etc) and the laboratory techniques / assays used to test the hypothesis
• Collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to frame scientific questions within a scientific problem space and any required background or insights
• Translating insights into design of bioinformatics studies and analysis
• Researching alternative bioinformatics methodologies and techniques to achieve the stated outcome or creating new ones as needed

Creates or supports the creation of a strategy to deliver desired bioinformatics analysis outcomes by:

• Cataloguing and evaluating available biomedical & bioinformatics datasets and identifying their fit for purpose
• Identifying any gaps in the available biomedical data and research potential data partners to advance the project
• Proposing alternative datasets to use for a class of bioinformatics analytics problems, including strengths and weaknesses for each
• Research and identify taxonomies and ontologies in the public domain as well as commercially available ones

Plans for and executes data management, data cleaning and data integration activities by:

• Profiling datasets and mapping them to biomedical ontology classes/instances or relationships
• Publishing increments to the biomedical ontology as needed to capture all necessary data points
• Identifying and prioritizing the datasets and data sources relevant for a bioinformatics analysis or set of analysis
• Evaluating available extract-transform-load (ETL) solutions to extract the data or creating new ones
• Supporting customization, stewardship and governance of artifacts needed to keep the data clean and de-duplicated (eg. biomedical catalogs, dictionaries, vocabularies, taxonomies, ontologies and data quality rules and metrics)

Creates and maintains 'omics' data processing / pipeline libraries and advises others on library governance by:

• Designing and coding analytical pipelines for various "omics" studies and experiments
• Providing support in the form of subject matter expertise to technical teams building bioinformatics platforms and research data lakes
• Evaluating, contrasting and recommending bioinformatics tools and platforms for client and commissioned projects, including capabilities from external partners and bioinformatics startups
• Performs other scripting/coding or bioinformatics tasks as required by the project

Communicates the bioinformatics problem statement, state of the art, methodology, validation results in the form of:

• Peer-reviewed research papers in journals or scientific conferences
• Internal talks, client readouts and other non-public forums with clients and ZS teams

Qualifications Required

• PhD in relevant field or 4-5 years relevant experience. Relevant degrees: Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Bioengineering, Biotechnology
• Must have experience with programming, statistical analysis (preferably Python or R), and working in a Linux/Unix environment
• Experience with RNAseq, microarray, or single cell analysis is a plus
• Strong statistical biology and/or machine learning skills is a plus

Experience Required
Must be able to design and plan for bioinformatics / data processing pipelines as demonstrated by:

• Having authored or co-authored a scientific communication that required the creation of a data processing pipeline or guidelines to create one
• Being able to walk the interviewer through the components necessary to resolve a complex data processing problem
• Being able to understand a data processing pipeline and identify weaknesses / missing components

Must have a strong background in bioinformatics, computational biology, or advanced data analysis as demonstrated by:

• Having been awarded an advanced degree (eg. PhD in bioinformatics, PhD in biostatistics)
• Co-author in at least one publication in relevant journals/conferences
• Author or co-author of open-source R / Python libraries used by the relevant communities

Must have solid experience in NGS data and analyses (RNA-seq, WGS, etc.) as demonstrated by

• Being able to talk about relevant libraries, datasets, challenges and optimization strategies

Perks & Benefits:
ZS offers a comprehensive total rewards package including health and well-being, financial planning, annual leave, personal growth and professional development. Our robust skills development programs, multiple career progression options and internal mobility paths and collaborative culture empowers you to thrive as an individual and global team member.
We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients/ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.
Considering applying?
At ZS, we're building a diverse and inclusive company where people bring their passions to inspire life-changing impact and deliver better outcomes for all. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job and recognize the value that candidates with all backgrounds, including non-traditional ones, bring. If you are interested in joining us, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet 100% of the requirements listed above.
To Complete Your Application:
Candidates must possess work authorization for their intended country of employment.
An on-line application, including a full set of transcripts (official or unofficial), is required
to be considered.
NO AGENCY CALLS, PLEASE.
Find Out More At:
www.zs.com