Head of Bioinformatics - Plant Biology Institute

Head of Bioinformatics - Plant Biology Institute

EIT - Ellison Institute of Technology

Oxford, United Kingdom

Your Role

At EIT we are seeking an accomplished leader to serve as Head of Bioinformatics for the Plant Biology Institute. This pivotal role will shape a newly established and rapidly scaling Plant Biology Institute that aspires to become a global leader in delivering scientific breakthroughs with real-world impact. aspires to become a global leader in delivering scientific breakthroughs with real-world impact.

The successful candidate will establish and lead PBI's bioinformatics function, delivering analytical capabilities and workflows to support PBI's trait and technology research groups. This role requires close collaboration with research scientists working across a broad range of products including large scale genome and transcriptome sequencing, evolutionary biology, plant and microbial genome and metabolic engineering, plant transformation, plant breeding, computer vision assisted automated phenotyping, machine learning and AI. The role will require working with other institutional stakeholders to scope, design, equip, and operate a new function within the research institute.

Your Responsibilities

• To lead and manage the informatics and bioinformatics function, delivering robust analytical capabilities to support the interpretation of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, phenotypic, computer vision/imaging, and other biological datasets produced by PBI researchers;
• To develop and implement bioinformatics strategies and workflows that support the experimental programmes of PBI;
• To work closely with researchers and group leads to develop and refine computational pipelines for analysing data;
• To recruit, lead, and mentor a team of bioinformaticians and computational biologists, building capacity in biological data analysis and interpretation;
• To develop and maintain pipelines for processing high-throughput datasets;
• To ensure reproducibility, version control, and documentation for all analyses and pipelines, contributing to open science and collaborative research;
• To work at the cutting edge of bioinformatics methods and tools, developing new methodologies and applications and redefining how they can be applied to accelerate discovery;
• Manage resources - including personnel, equipment, and budgets - in coordination with the senior leadership team.

Requirements

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• An advanced degree in informatics, computer science, data science, bioinformatics, or a related field, with strong experience working in a research or scientific environment;
• Experience in building and leading informatics functions, including managing teams, developing data infrastructure, and delivering end-to-end informatics solutions;
• Proven track record of designing and implementing data systems that support large-scale scientific data capture, analysis, and integration;
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including scientists, software engineers, and operational stakeholders, to deliver fit-for-purpose data tools;
• Strong technical expertise in: Data architecture and engineering (e.g. SQL, NoSQL, ETL pipelines), programming languages such as Python, Linux, API development and system interoperability, data governance and compliance (e.g. GDPR, security standards);
• Experience working within a laboratory or scientific research setting, with a strong understanding of the data needs and challenges across experimental workflows;
• Track record of effectively leading and developing people and teams, with a commitment to innovation, scalability, and reliability;
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to translate technical solutions into strategic value for the organisation.