Multi-omics Bioinformatics Scientist

About the Opportunity

The Multi-omics Bioinformatics Scientist will enable advanced tools for breeding the next generation of Driscoll’s berries. This role will develop and deploy methods and support for gene discovery and exploitation, including transcriptomics, pan-genomics, and functional annotation, integrated with results from phenotyping. This role provides an exciting opportunity to advance state-of-the-art technologies and be part of a world-class breeding program.

 Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical lead in gene discovery research using modern tools and approaches for identifying functional genes, along with their trait-linked sequence variation and copy dosage.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Breeding, Physiology, Plant Health, Post-Harvest, and other teams in analysis of trait-linked features, with particular attention to regulatory networks and molecular pathways.
• Serve as the primary expert on prioritization, design, management, and analysis of pan-genomic and transcriptomic sequencing experiments, cross-referencing with public reference genomes and gene/annotation databases.
• Serve as a primary expert on retrieving, manipulating, and managing large data sets of raw and refined sequences, using R, Python, and other Unix-based text and GUI methods for deployment of robust analysis pipelines. (FASTA, BAM, GFF, VCF, etc.).
• Collaborate with colleagues in Breeding, Data Science, Informatics, and other functional teams in co-developing and championing new project proposals.
• Be a leader in a culture of organized data and reproducible science, supporting both Next Generation Breeding and other teams collaborating towards enterprise goals.
• Communicate project planning and progress to stakeholders, colleagues, and leadership through written updates and oral presentations with a high level of independence.
• Responsible for appropriate documentation and storage of all data, software, and workflows in software notebooks, repositories, and enterprise systems.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for company stakeholders in translating genomic and gene-function discoveries into business decisions.

Candidate Profile

• PhD in bioinformatics, genetics, molecular biology, or related field with 0-2 years of work experience, or MS with 5+ years of significant work experience developing new bioinformatics solutions.
• Genetic mapping, GWAS & transcriptomics: Experimental design & statistics; genetic linkage and imputation.
• Research applications, including at least one of:
  Genome informatics: sequence/genotyping data alignment, filtration & analysis; assembly comparison and visualization.
  Phylogenetics & gene annotation: gene families, pan-genomic dosage; Gene Ontology, molecular pathways.
• Highly innovative, clear and concise written and verbal communication skills.
• Advanced experience with laboratory experimental design and statistics.
• Bilingual skills in Spanish a plus, but not required.

Preferred (other) Qualifications

• Experimental design, data analysis, and algorithms, especially in R and Python.
• Familiar with comparative genomics and pan-genomic issues in reference genomes and sequence alignment.
• Knowledgeable on methods for low-pass whole-genome sequencing and imputation-based genotyping.

Compensation and Benefits

The following information is provided in good faith as a general description of the salary range and benefits for the position posted. The actual compensation offered to the successful candidate is dependent upon experience, skills, education, work location, internal pay equity, and other objective job-related factors.

Salary Range estimated for the Multi-omics Bioinformatics Scientist role: $79,779.00/year to $117,600.00/year.

Driscoll’s is committed to a culture of care and offers an attractive benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, and disability coverage for positions working more than 30 hours per week. Other benefits include: 401(k) with employer match, profit-sharing participation, paid sick time, paid vacation, paid personal and family care leave, and a free Employee Assistance Program (EAP). More detailed information regarding the benefits package, will be shared during the application process.