We are seeking a highly trained Bioinformatics Scientist with a PhD or equivalent research experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, or a closely related field. The ideal candidate will have strong experience analyzing genomic sequence data and a deep interest in the genetic basis of human immune response.
This role will focus on the analysis and interpretation of genomic, transcriptomic, and/or immune-related sequence datasets to help identify genetic variation, molecular pathways, and biological mechanisms associated with human immune function, immune response, disease susceptibility, vaccine response, inflammation, autoimmunity, infection, or related phenotypes.
Key Responsibilities
The selected candidate will:
- Analyze high-throughput genomic sequence data, including whole-genome sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, targeted sequencing, and related datasets.
- Develop, implement, and optimize bioinformatics pipelines for sequence data processing, quality control, variant calling, annotation, and downstream interpretation.
- Investigate genetic contributors to human immune response, including HLA variation, immune receptor loci, cytokine pathways, host-pathogen response, or other immunogenetic features.
- Integrate genomic data with clinical, phenotypic, immunological, or functional datasets.
- Interpret results in a biologically meaningful context and communicate findings to interdisciplinary teams.
- Prepare reports, figures, manuscripts, grant materials, or presentations summarizing analytical methods and scientific findings.
- Collaborate with scientists, clinicians, computational biologists, immunologists, and other stakeholders.
Required Qualifications
- PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, human genetics, genomics, immunology, biostatistics, or a related discipline.
- Demonstrated experience analyzing genomic sequence data.
- Strong understanding of human genetics and genomic variation.
- Familiarity with immune response genetics, immunogenomics, host-pathogen genetics, vaccine response genetics, autoimmunity, inflammatory disease, or related areas.
- Proficiency in programming and data analysis using tools such as Python, R, Bash, Nextflow, Snakemake, or similar platforms.
- Experience working in Linux/Unix computing environments and with high-performance computing or cloud-based analysis systems.
- Familiarity with standard bioinformatics tools and file formats, such as FASTQ, BAM/CRAM, VCF, GTF/GFF, BED, BCFtools, GATK, PLINK, STAR, HISAT2, Salmon, Seurat, or related tools.
- Ability to work independently, manage complex datasets, and document analytical workflows clearly.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with HLA typing, immune repertoire sequencing, single-cell immune profiling, GWAS, eQTL analysis, or rare variant analysis.
- Familiarity with population structure, ancestry inference, polygenic risk scores, or fine-mapping methods.
- Prior publications or demonstrated research contributions in immunogenetics, infectious disease genetics, autoimmune disease genetics, cancer immunology, vaccine response, or related fields.
- Experience with reproducible workflow development, containerization, Git-based version control, or cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.
Desired Skills and Attributes
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent scientific communication skills.
- Ability to collaborate across computational, biological, and clinical teams.
- Careful attention to data quality, reproducibility, and documentation.
- Intellectual curiosity and interest in the genetic determinants of human immune function.
Company Description
Scisco Genetics, a Seattle-based biotechnology company, specializes in next-generation sequencing (NGS) services and products for genotyping complex immune gene systems, including HLA, KIR, MICAB, FCGR, and IGHG. Founded and led by Dr. Daniel Geraghty, whose research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center focuses on immune genetics, the company offers tools like the ScisGo product and Version 6 NGS HLA Typing Kit for high-resolution, accurate genotyping, supporting applications such as hematopoietic cell transplants and precision medicine.