Location
Hybrid working based at the Scientific Campus in Colindale, London. Flexible working opportunities available with a hybrid model requiring approximately 60% of contractual hours on-site (around 3 days per week).

Hours
Full Time - standard UK working hours

Salary
£46,310 per annum

About the Role
The Bioinformatician will play a key role within the Sexually Transmitted Infections Reference Laboratory (STIRL), the national reference centre for bacterial STIs. You will support surveillance, outbreak investigation, and research through the analysis, interpretation, and management of genomic data. This includes designing, developing, and maintaining bioinformatics pipelines for bacterial genome analysis to detect and monitor antimicrobial resistance. The role involves close collaboration with scientific colleagues across UKHSA to deliver high-quality, reproducible outputs that inform national surveillance programmes such as GRASP and MARS. You will contribute to analytical approach development, advise scientific staff, and support publications, technical reports, and presentations. Collaboration with the UKHSA Bioinformatics Unit, Reference Services, and Central Sequencing Unit is essential to ensure alignment with national quality and accreditation standards.

Key responsibilities include conducting whole and partial genome analyses to investigate evolution, epidemiology, and antimicrobial resistance; evaluating and applying bioinformatics tools to strengthen laboratory outputs and surveillance; providing specialist guidance on analytical approaches and bioinformatics practice; ensuring secure handling and storage of genomic data in line with governance; developing and troubleshooting pipelines and computational tools; supporting data quality audits and laboratory information system improvements; and assisting with documentation and validation of software linked to UKAS accreditation.

You will support genomic analysis pipelines for bacterial STIs including N. gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis, and M. genitalium, generate analyses and reports to support surveillance and outbreak response, and contribute to reports, publications, and national surveillance outputs. The role also involves providing supervision, training, and mentoring for staff, students, and visitors where delegated, maintaining competencies through mandatory training, and representing the Unit at meetings, conferences, and seminars as required. You will undertake duties consistent with the role and promote UKHSA values including excellence, integrity, and inclusivity.

Experience
- Higher degree (MSc or equivalent experience) in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related subject
- Experience interpreting bacterial sequences, genotyping, and phylogenetic analysis
- Proven experience analysing Illumina datasets and proficiency with standard bioinformatics and statistical tools for sequence assembly, alignment, and interpretation
- Demonstrated expertise in large-scale molecular sequence data analyses and programming/scripting languages such as Python, Perl, or C
- Proven ability to analyse, summarise, and interpret complex epidemiological and genomic data
- Experience coordinating projects in complex or multi-stakeholder scientific environments
- Excellent communication skills, including producing scientific reports, correspondence, and presentations for diverse audiences

About you
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Ability to work collaboratively across teams and with external partners including NHS and academic institutions
- Commitment to maintaining high standards of data integrity and quality
- Enthusiastic about professional development and mentoring others
- Ability to represent the Unit professionally at meetings and conferences

Qualifications
- Essential: Higher degree (MSc or equivalent) in a relevant discipline
- Desirable: Knowledge and experience with high-performance computing (HPC) clusters and version control systems (e.g. Git)
- Experience with software containerization (e.g. Singularity) and workflow managers (e.g. Nextflow)
- Understanding of database design, architecture, and implementation
- Experience authoring or contributing to peer-reviewed publications in bacterial genomics or STIs