Lead Data Scientist, Physiology & Pharmacology

Position Overview

The Department of Physiology & Pharmacology in the Cumming School of Medicine invites applications for a Lead Data Scientist, International Microbiome Centre .

This Full-time Fixed Term position is for approximately 1 year (based on length of grant funding), with the possibility of extension.

This position will support the International Microbiome Centre (IMC) in operating the IMC-Bioinformatics Core that provides fundamental expertise and timely analytical support with large scale data arising from leading-edge technologies and translational research projects.

The Lead Data Scientist will work closely with the Scientific Director of the IMC, IMC Theme Leads and Business Director to oversee the Core's operations, including productivity, resource management, finances, and metrics of success.

This position will also liase with IMC and other faculty / institute leaders to ensure the Core's offerings align with major initiatives and the needs of the research community.

They will furthermore engage with the University of Calgary Research Computing Services and Cumming School of Medicine Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics to integrate the Core's computational needs and resources with the wider high performance computing community and infrastructure.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to) :

• Supervisory / Core Leadership Directly supervises Data Scientists, fostering a collegial and effective team environment.
• Current team of one data scientist to supervise with future expansion of team to directly supervise Responsibly allocates and accounts for staff members' time spent on a high volume of projects with competing priorities and short timelines Monitors and reports the Core's financial health;

tracks billing and spending to maximize cost effectiveness of the group activities Gathers and reports information on the Core's productivity and metrics of success, including resultant grants, research products, publications, and intellectual property Provides technical guidance and professional mentorship to trainees and other Project Data Scientists affiliated with IMC research initiatives Participates in high level funding and research strategy sessions

• Operations Works collaboratively with clients to devise appropriate, cost-effective analysis strategies, necessary personnel / resources, and timely product delivery Independently conducts bioinformatics and multivariate statistical analyses on specific research projects Assists scientists in making data-driven decisions in accordance with the relevant literature and standards of the field Oversees the development and delivery of in person and online bioinformatics workshops Undertakes other duties associated with data science needs identified by the Scientific Director IMC, IMC Director Programs & Business and Genomics & Bioinformatics Theme Lead Maintains confidentiality and adheres to ethical standards appropriate for clinical and human data
• Scientific / Technical Development Develops and executes bioinformatics applications and semi-automated analysis pipelines within a scientific compute cluster environment Shows extensive understanding and commitment to continued learning of standards and technologies related to bioinformatics, computational statistics, and microbiome science Produces high quality archives of well-documented code and procedures, educational tools, analysis briefs, and manuscripts

Qualifications / Requirements :

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Statistics, Computer Science or related field with approximately 7-10 years of experience in a recognized research environment
• Track record of leadership, organization, problem solving, and management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as ability to facilitate interaction with scientists working in various disciplines (fluency in English is essential)
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills and problem solving abilities
• Track record of mentoring and managing multiple simultaneous collaborative projects
• Knowledge of University core business systems is required
• Strong skills in complex - omics data analysis
• Highly desired areas of expertise include : metagenomics / metatranscriptomics data analysis multi-omic data integration and analysis single-cell data analysis
• Signficant training and experience in applied computational statistics
• Highly desired areas of expertise include : Bayesian methods Resampling methods Markov chain Monte Carlo Multivariate regression Machine learning
• Expert in R programming and at least one object-oriented programming language (e.g. Perl or Python)
• Practiced understanding of how to develop algorithms and bioinformatics pipelines
• Experience with Linux / Unix working environments, and high-performance computing clusters
• Demonstrated effectiveness teaching bioinformatics in a classroom / workshop setting
30+ days ago