Senior or Lead Data/Software Engineer
We are a fast growing professional services company, where you will be able to apply and develop best-in-class engineering solutions to challenges in life sciences. Grow your career with us!
The Role
Optima Partners is a leading professional services firm experiencing rapid growth and innovation. As part of our expansion, we are dedicated to advancing our capabilities in data science and statistical genetics. We are seeking a motivated Senior/Lead Data or Software Engineer specialising in bioinformatics to join our team. This role will be pivotal in driving our genetic research initiatives and contributing to cutting-edge solutions that enhance our services.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership (required for the Lead role)
- Provide thought leadership in the best-practices around data and computation architectures for on-prem and cloud environments.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to find the best data or software solutions serving the broader business strategies.
Technical Expertise
- Utilise programming languages such as R, Python, and any of the following programming languages Perl, C, C++, Java, JavaScript or Scala.
- Implement and manage data ingestion modules to download and manage publicly available genomic and molecular data sources as well as internally curated data sources.
- Ensure robust data processing pipelines and workflows for handling large-scale genomic data.
- Building, populating and managing databases and/or warehouses used for access to and storage of biological data. Providing efficient I/O capabilities to connect data and use efficiently in data science workflows and products.
- Utilise orchestration (e.g. Nextflow, Snakemake) and high-performance computing (e.g., SLURM, AWS Batch) frameworks.
- Write efficient and optimised SQL queries for data manipulation and analysis using platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, or Postgres.
- Build and maintain GUI, dashboards and website front-ends to enable user-friendly exploration of data or execution of data science workflows.
- Confident in building Microservices and APIs.
- Oversee the existing pipelines and lead/support the design of the new pipelines and workflows based on on-prem or cloud-based high performance computing infrastructures.
Data Management & Compliance
- Ensure the integrity, security, and confidentiality of genomic data in compliance with relevant regulations.
- Implement and maintain high standards for data quality and reproducibility in research findings.
- Understanding of GDPR, Trusted Research Environment (TRE), Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and ISO standards (e.g., ISO27001) for data security and compliance.
Communication & Reporting
- Work closely with scientists as well as the product teams to identify data needs and deliver data solutions that meet business objectives.
- Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior data engineers and other team members.
- Communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders effectively.
Skills & Experience
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a quantitative discipline. Advanced degree such as PhD is preferred.
- More than 5 years of experience in the life sciences industry for a Lead position or at least 3 years of experience for a Senior position, preferably with expertise in genomics and/or genetics data sources.
- Proven experience in designing and building robust data pipelines and architectures.
- Proficiency in R and/or Python, and any of the following programming languages; Perl, C, C++, Java, and JavaScript.
- Proficiency in writing advanced SQL queries using common platforms (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, or Postgres) as well as distributed data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark).
- Solid understanding of data governance, data security, and data management best practices.
- Experience with building and maintaining databases, linking I/O processes to existing data science/bioinformatics workflows/pipelines.
- Experience working with at least one cloud platform (Azure, GCP, Amazon AWS).
- Experience working with bioinformatics tools CLI/APIs (e.g. PLINK, bcftools, GATK, etc.)
- Experience in building and maintaining GUI, dashboards and website front-ends to enable user-friendly exploration of data or execution of data science workflows.
- Familiarity with DevOps concepts such as Continuous Integration/Deployment (CI/CD), unit-testing and containers (e.g., Docker or/and Singularity).
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Lead and support data wrangling activities of large-scale datasets systematically using Python and/or R.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
- Demonstrated experience working on production-level systems with the ability to explain technical details.
The Company
Optima Partners is an advanced data and business consultancy with offices in London, Edinburgh and Bristol in the UK. We are practitioner led and partner with leading consumer brands to drive transformation and catalyse customer-centricity through our expertise in customer strategy, design innovation, and innovative data science and engineering.
In late 2023, we proudly launched our new division, bioXcelerate AI, which stands at the forefront of revolutionising life sciences and healthcare research. bioXcelerate AI uses state-of-the-art data science and proprietary algorithms to accelerate the transformation of data into actionable insights, redefining industry standards. Engineers at bioXcelerate will be provided with vast variety of opportunities to grow their technical and organisation skillsets. For more information, visit our website www.bioxcelerateai.com
- Department
- Health Data Sciences
- Locations
- Holborn Circus, London, Castle Park, Bristol, Bayes Centre, Edinburgh, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
- Remote status
- Hybrid Remote
Senior or Lead Data/Software Engineer
We are a fast growing professional services company, where you will be able to apply and develop best-in-class engineering solutions to challenges in life sciences. Grow your career with us!
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