GA4GH Developer

Advertised Grade-Grading:

Grade 5 (monthly salary starting at £2,882 after tax) or Grade 6 (monthly salary starting at £3,224) + other paid benefits

About the team/job

GA4GH brings together hundreds of contributors from healthcare, research, patient advocacy, life science, and information technology to create frameworks and standards to enable the responsible, voluntary, and secure sharing of genomic and health-related data. Our staff support this work and are based at four international host institutions: the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and EMBL-EBI. 

Your role

You will contribute to the development, implementation and adoption of open source standards for genomic data sharing alongside colleagues in our distributed staff team and members of the wider GA4GH community, including dedicated developers, outside the GA4GH staff team, who are participating as “assigned engineers” on specific projects. You will report to the GA4GH Technical Lead and Chief Standards Officer (CSO). You will work in conjunction with our UK and US/Canada based development team to drive development work within GA4GH. Based at EMBL-EBI, this role is part of an expansion of our technical team to increase support for our large community of worldwide contributors.

The role provides an exceptional opportunity to contribute to a meaningful project, gain experience of a range of technologies and work alongside staff from a variety of world leading organisations spanning compute and health.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Developing systems and solutions in support of the GA4GH standards and activities
• Ensuring software is developed to a high standard including the use of modern development practices and tooling
• Attend standards calls where applicable to the work being conducted. Engage in discussions and deliver products back
• Support outreach and implementation efforts for GA4GH standards and other products
• Develop and maintain excellent relations with a globally based set of contributors spanning multiple disciplines.
• Possess the ability to analyse complex information and identify key points whilst understanding context
• Flexibility to work on multiple tasks with different deadlines and cope with some changes in priorities. 
• Due to the international nature of the work, a working pattern with some evening calls is part of the role. Some international travel is expected
• Collaborate and communicate detailed technical information with members of our global community of contributors, comprising people from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, including industry, academia, patient advocacy, biology, medicine and IT.

GA4GH standards include file formats for storing large scale genomic data, services for executing analytical workflows in varied compute environments, models for phenotypic and clinical data capable of integrating with electronic health records, and methods for secure data access. You will be responsible for design and development to support solutions to these challenges. In addition you will share responsibility for the development of the GA4GH Starter Kit (https://starterkit.ga4gh.org/) software packages, which are used to accelerate the adoption of GA4GH standards in clinical settings, along with the development of test services, available to those implementing GA4GH standards

You have

• A degree in biology, bioinformatics, computer science or a related field or equivalent experience
• Ideally at least two years experience as a programmer
• A demonstrated track record of working successfully with experts across a range of disciplines, showing an ability to develop understanding of a given topic quickly
• Demonstrable organisational skills
• The ability to collaborate and work proactively with individuals from a broad range of backgrounds
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written), enabling you to produce high quality documentation and work with an international team distributed across many locations
• Strong time management skills with the ability to balance multiple tasks effectively and meet deadlines
• Self-motivation and capability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Previous experience working in software development or bioinformatics
• The ability to accommodate calls outside of office hours and some international travel 

You might also have

• Further postgraduate qualifications relating to computing or bioinformatics
• Existing knowledge and experience of the domains within GA4GH, such as genomics formats, Cloud computing, genetic variation representation and annotation
• Experience of working in an academic, technical or scientifically focused environment
• Experience of working in an internationally distributed organisation across time zones
• Familiarity with fundamental concepts in genomics, genetics and bioinformatics 

Why join us

Do something meaningful

At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation

We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential. 

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays
• Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
• Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For more details please see our employee benefits page. 

What else you need to know

• Contract duration: This position is a 3 year project based contract.
• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants. 
• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities. 
• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here.
• Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system, by clicking the 'Apply' button.