Current vacancies

Advanced Research Assistant - Cellular Genetics

Salary in the region of £26,693 - £32,299 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Permanent/ Open Contract

The Cellular Genetics Programme are seeking an enthusiastic individual to join their newly formed wet lab support team as an Advanced Research Assistant.

You will carry out a range of research activities in a dynamic core team that supports the faculty research of the Programme and interact with our Operations teams to submit samples for sequencing/further analysis.

You will have the opportunity to focus on a variety of protocols, including but not limited to; sample prep, PCR, RNA/DNA purification, preparation of libraries for RNA sequencing and a number of different cell based assays. You will work within the support team to test new protocols and scale them up as required by the faculty research groups, working towards delivering the protocols without requiring close supervision.

This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated and adaptable individual to support the cutting edge science delivered within the Cellular Genetics Programme.

Reference:83135

Advanced Research Assistant - Culture Collection Curator

Salary in the region of £26,693 - £32,299 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term for 2 years

An Advanced Research Assistant position is available at the Wellcome Sanger Institute under the leadership of Dr Trevor Lawley.  We are looking for an enthusiastic and skilled research assistant to join the Host-Microbiota Interactions Lab (www.lawleylab.com). This is an exciting opportunity for the successful candidate to join a dynamic team investigating the role of the microbiota in human health and a variety of diseases, such as autoimmunity, infections and cancers, using genomics, microbiology and model organisms. There is a strong translational focus to the Lab with the goal of developing novel, microbiome based diagnostics and therapeutics.

Over the past several years, the HMIL has accumulated a massive bacterial culture collection of over 30,000 strains that are housed at the Sanger Institute. This is one of the largest human microbiome culture collections in the world and will underpin future work in HMIL, as well as other Sanger Programmes such as Cancer and Human Genetics. The culture collection now includes strains from individuals from the Western world including healthy adults, adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), adults undergoing antibiotic therapy, adults with cancer and children born via vaginal and C section delivery.

The successful candidate will be responsible for managing the culture collection and maintaining the culture collection for posterity. This will include leading front-line laboratory support for large scale sample management focusing on the following tasks:

1. Test for strain viability and purity, and optimise SOPs for long-term storage
2. Consolidate existing culture collection in to one standardised biobank
3. Work with Bioinformaticians to develop an integrated, searchable platform linking isolates with sequenced genomes
4. Deposit representative members of the collection in public repositories for the research community to access
5. To serve as point of contact for scientists wishing to access strains for experiments

Reference:83108

Advanced Research Assistant - Germ Free/Gnotobiotic Facility

Salary in the region of £26,693 - £32,299 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term for 3 years

We are seeking a motivated and experienced Advanced Research Assistant at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, under the leadership of Dr Trevor Lawley (www.lawleylab.com).  We are expanding the germ free/gnotobiotic capability for controlled-microbiome studies and are looking for an Advanced Research Assistant to work closely with Dr Trevor Lawley and other members of the Sanger Institute, to provide technical support.

This is an exciting opportunity for the successful candidate to join a dynamic team investigating the role of the microbiota in human health and a variety of diseases, such as autoimmunity, infections and cancers, using genomics, microbiology and model organisms. There is a strong translational focus to the lab with the goal of developing novel, microbiome based diagnostics and therapeutics.

The successful candidate will provide technical assistance within the germ free/gnotobiotic facility by carrying out daily tasks and responsibilities such as:

• providing food and water for the animals and organising special diets if needed
• carrying out regular observations and health checks
• making sure that animals are clean, comfortable and behaving as expected
• keeping up high levels of hygiene for each animal
• controlling heating, lighting and humidity
• monitoring the weight and growth of animals
• keeping accurate records and inputting data onto computer systems.

In addition, you will provide research assistance to senior managers and the facility team to develop and implement protocols and set up scientific studies and breeding in the expanding germ free/gnotobiotic facility. You will carry out both routine and more bespoke laboratory protocols and procedures as required in a consistently efficient, accurate and precise manner and support for the day to day operation of laboratory and resolving minor issues. You will need to follow strict legal controls which exist to make sure that animals used in research are well looked after and humanely treated. 

You will be required to participate in weekend/public holiday rota (approximately 1 weekend in 4) to ensure the RSF is satisfactorily maintained at all time.

Reference:83141

Advanced Research Assistant - Malaria

Salary in the region of £26,693 - £32,299 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term for 2 years

An opportunity is available for an enthusiastic Advanced Research Assistant to join the Lee team to support our work on CRISPR/Cas9 approaches for manipulating the Plasmodium parasite genome. The goal is to systematically investigate and validate new antimalarial targets in Plasmodium falciparum using a variety of chemogenomic approaches. You will have expertise in parasite culture and genetic manipulation, performing drug sensitivity assays, as well as a strong molecular biology background, and will enjoying working in a collaborative research environment.

Reference:83123

Architecture Researcher

Salary £37,739 to £57,806 per annum plus benefits 

The Sanger Institute is a world leader in bio-informatics research for the benefit of human health. Specifically, our scientific niche is in large-scale, high-throughput biology, often incorporating systematic genome-wide screens. These are enabled by major data generation platforms in DNA sequencing, cellular genetics and mouse genetics with an accompanying large IT platform supporting computational data analysis.

To support a dynamic, wide-ranging and groundbreaking research community, the Sanger Institute has one of the world’s largest life science IT facilities. Our facilities currently provide research groups with HPC clusters that deliver more than 20,000 compute cores, 15 PB of high performance Lustre file systems and data repositories exceeding 16PB.

The recent addition of a Flexible Compute Environment, based on OpenStack and 100GB/s software defined networking, exceeds 6000 further CPU’s and provides 1PB of high performance object storage to our customers. This new environment provides exciting opportunities to our research community both for collaboration and to embrace otherwise disruptive technologies as they come to market.

Such flexibility is critical to our being able to adapt to the rapidly developing requirements of our scientific environment and remaining at the leading edge of technology will be key to our IT strategy over the forthcoming years.

We are therefore happy to announce that we are looking for a new enthusiastic IT staff member. This role is to look 5+ years ahead to what may be possible, rather than technology that is available today. You will evaluate how it aligns with our developing scientific challenges. You will also engage with our strategic commercial and scientific IT partners to develop the solutions that we will need in the future.

This is an outstanding opportunity to not just join a world leading genetics research institute but also to help craft our IT future!

For such a blue-sky research position, you will require a mixture of talents and qualifications including :

• A strong and creative problem-solving mentality.
• An open and enquiring approach to IT and it's evolving landscape to overcome them.
• Highly self-motivated and with a will to share and disseminate information
• An ability to present new ideas and opportunities to a wider audience of both highly technical and non-technical audiences
• Provide contributions to wider audiences through peer review papers and conference presentations and posters.
• The ability to rapidly learn and evaluate new methods and tools
• Excellent written, verbal and numerical skills.
• Forward and independent thinking!

We believe that this post would be ideally suited to someone with a high degree in a computation or mathematic or scientific background. Specific knowledge of cloud or HPC technologies is desirable but a deep understanding and ability to develop upon new and upcoming IT technologies, such as machine learning and associated computation approaches is more so.

Reference:82786

EMBL-EBI-Sanger postdoctoral fellowships

Contract Duration: 3 years

The EBI–Sanger Postdoctoral (ESPOD) Programme builds on the collaborative relationship between EMBL-EBI and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, offering projects that combine experimental (wet-lab) and computational (dry-lab) approaches.

Both located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, their proximity fosters great opportunities for close collaborations. Our researchers have easy access to scientific expertise, well-equipped facilities and an active seminar programme. 

Application process

Reference:83095

IT Service Desk Apprentice - Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation

Salary; £17,045 per annum plus additional benefits

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our software development team as an IT Service Desk Apprentice whilst working towards gaining a BSc Hons Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprenticeship at Anglia Ruskin University. 

Key responsibilities:

• Providing first line technical support to our scientific users,
• Efficiently triaging or advancing requests,
• Help take on complex IT issues.

We encourage applicants with an interest in moving into the field of software development, who is enthusiastic, eager to learn, willing, and able to work in a team environment

You will be based in the IT team in the Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation (CASM) Division and your role as IT Apprentice will ultimately aid our understanding of cancer and ageing and have the opportunity to work closely with our IT developers and our scientific researchers. 

This as a developmental role to encourage new talent in the area of software development. You will emerge as a fully competent software developer, conversant in modern development methodologies and practices. In addition, you will have a comprehensive understanding of our working practises here within our research division at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. 

Reference:83125

Impact and Evaluation Analyst

Salary range: £35,000 to £43,000 pro rata per annum plus benefits

Fixed term for 3.5 years in the first instance, (22 hours per week)

This is an exciting new role for an individual with previous experience of measuring success and impact, who is looking to expand their experience and develop their career. The Wellcome Sanger Institute and its partner Connecting Science are looking for someone to help them measure the impact of the ground breaking research, education and public engagement undertaken by our talented researchers and support staff. You will be working closely with the senior leadership and other stakeholders of both the Sanger Institute and Connecting Science to deliver and refine the Impact and Success Framework. 

Role purpose and primary objective:

You will work with researchers and senior managers across the organisation to refine the Impact and Success Framework and identify activities within that framework that demonstrate impact and success of our work. These activities will extend significantly beyond research, and will include innovation, public engagement, education, policy and external relations amongst others. You will work with stakeholders to develop quantitative metrics and case-studies across the organisation and lead measurement and recording.

You will work closely with the Associate Director (Research Planning) to provide her with key evidence of our successes and impact for our quinquennial funding application to Wellcome, due at the end of 2019. In addition, you will work with senior leadership across the organisation on the delivery the two other major quinquennial funding applications for Connecting Science and the campus.

You will support the Associate Director (External Relations) and the Policy Lead in their delivery of work designed to influence and engage external stakeholders, including national and international policy-makers, funders and investors, and support development of key strategic relations with industry and academia.

You will work with teams and individuals as and when needed to support the delivery of projects where demonstration of impact is required. This includes supporting the delivery of the Sanger Institute’s Annual Review, working with grant applicants and recipients to create and deliver impact plans, and other teams across the organisation where outputs require a demonstration of impact.

Reference:83103

Postdoctoral Fellow (Genome Assembly)

Salary range: £31,503 to £39,492 (depending on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term contract for 3 years

We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced computational scientist to develop genome assembly algorithms using 3rd generation sequencing data. 

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world leader in genomic research, with an expanding scientific programme dedicated to understanding gene function in health & disease.

In the High Performance Assembly group, part of Sequencing Informatics, we develop algorithms and software tools for de novo genome assembly and sequence alignment for various applications. High profile projects such as the Genome10K Vertebrate Genome Project (VGP) and the Cancer Genome Project start to collect and sequence a large number of human and non-human samples, aiming for high quality de novo assemblies. The sequencing platforms include, but not limited to PacBio, Oxford Nanopore, 10X genomics, Bionano and HiC etc and the VGP consortium plans to combine various data types in order to produce assemblies with the best quality. The 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing technologies offer huge amount of sequencing output at massively reduced costs but the new datasets pose significant challenges in the assembly progress. To further strengthen our bioinformatics applications development, we are looking for outstanding computational scientists to join us working in this exciting area.

Reference:83126

Postdoctoral Fellow - Rayner Group

Salary in the region of £31,503 - £39,492 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term for 3 years

The Rayner group uses large-scale experimental approaches to identify and prioritise malaria drug and vaccine targets. Focusing on the blood stages of human malaria parasite species, the group combines systematic genetic modification, proteomics, cellular phenotyping, biochemistry and sequencing to understand basic biology and to advance new therapeutic targets. One expanding area of focus is the prioritisation of vaccine targets for Plasmodium vivax. P. vivax causes the majority of malaria outside of Africa, but vaccine development for this organism has been hampered by the absence of an in vitro culture system in which to test candidates. The Rayner lab is collaborating with the lab of Prof. Manoj Duraisingh at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who has pioneered the development of ex vivo assays forP. vivax, to change the scale of P. vivax vaccine development.

There is now an opening for a three-year post-doctoral fellowship position working between the Rayner and Duraisingh labs to prioritise Plasmodium vivax blood-stage vaccine targets. The project will take a reverse vaccinology approach, systematically expressing large numbers of candidate antigens using a mammalian cell expression system, raising antibodies against them, and testing them for protective efficacy in ex vivo and in vitro assays. The project will require working closely with other scientists at the Sanger Institute and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and with partners in malaria endemic countries. You will be independent and a self-starter, who will be keen to make the most of this exciting opportunity. You may be new to the malaria field, but you will have a strong track record in eukaryotic cell culture, protein expression and purification. While the position is a three year postdoctoral fellowship, the rich biology has many possibilities for the development of new independent projects, career development and support.

Reference:83139

Principal Bioinformatician - BMGF Global GBS Genomics Project

Salary in the region of £43,722 - £52,903 (dependent on experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed term contract for 4 years

We are looking to recruit a Principal Bioinformatician to lead the coordination and analysis of a major new international project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This post provides the exciting opportunity to employ bacterial genomic analyses to a large collection of samples of Streptococcus agalactiae to inform strategies for disease prevention.

We are seeking to appoint a talented individual skilled in bioinformatic analysis of large genomic datasets and able to coordinate activities across a large international consortium. They will have a senior role in a multi-disciplinary team and be responsible for sample logistics, study design, bioinformatic analysis, interpretation of results, and delivering manuscripts describing the outcomes.

The post will be within the Parasite and Microbes Programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute which has a world class record of pioneering the use of large-scale genomic data analysis to understand pathogen biology, epidemiology and evolution. The applicant would be part of team engaged in many exciting ongoing project areas studying pathogen characteristics such as person-to-person transmission, global spread, acquisition of antimicrobial resistance and severity of disease. Our studies are supported by genomic, clinical and epidemiological data for thousands of samples providing opportunities for well-powered analyses for a range of major bacterial pathogens.

The ideal applicant will have a PhD and significant experience in statistical genetics, microbial genomics, computational biology, or a related discipline, with demonstrated expertise in applying multiple statistical approaches to the analysis of large datasets to infer biological insights. They will join a lively group that combines the expertise of microbiologists, phylogeneticists, clinicians, mathematicians, bioinformaticians and software developers.

For any questions about the position, please contact Stephen Bentley (sdb@sanger.ac.uk)

Reference:83146

Project Manager

Salary range £45,000 to £50,000 per annum plus benefits

We are seeking a Project Manager to join our Programme Management Office (PMO) at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, which is a world leader in genome research.

In this role, you will lead a range of cross functional projects including Operations, Regulatory, Faculty, Legal, HR, Finance, Procurement and IT to deliver change to support our scientific programmes. You will be responsible for successful planning, managing, reporting and delivery. Additionally, you will support the development of project management, using a common framework and methodology, across the Institute.

You will be:

• Flexible, professional, proactive, positive, resilient, resourceful, tenacious
• Someone who leads by example and takes ownership of problems

We are interested in hearing from you if you have the following skills and experience:

• Consistent track record of leading and implementing change 
• End to end project management experience 
• Demonstrable record of success in delivering a number of complex projects through others on time, in budget and to agreed quality standards 
• Ability to quickly assimilate and communicate relevant scientific and technical details at different levels 
• Ability to work in a constantly changing environment 
• Good leadership skills 
• Highly developed excellent communication skills with experience of dealing with and influencing and negotiating with people at all levels successfully 

Reference:83151

Research Assistant - Cellular Generation and Phenotyping

Salary range: £20,000 to £23,612 plus excellent benefits

We are seeking two self-motivated, proactive individuals, to support the Cellular Generation and Phenotyping team (CGaP) here at the Sanger. As the successful candidate, you will help to deliver one of our projects, in particular touching iPSC derivation or whole genome CRISPR screening. You will also help maintain the department and laboratories.

• iPSC derivation: Working on iPSC derivation in our facility, you will reprogram patient’s samples (either skin biopsies or blood) into iPSC using the Sendai virus as a vector to deliver the reprogramming genes. You will then culture the cells on a layer of feeders before transferring them to feeder-free substrates and bank them. You will test cells for any remnant of virus by RT-qPCR and run additional assays (e.g. differentiation into the three embryonic germ layers) to test the quality of the iPSC produced.

Techniques involved include: Isolation of PBMC from blood and differentiation toward erythroblast lineage, isolation/culture of fibroblasts from skin biopsies, reprogramming using Sendai virus, iPSC colony-picking, feeder-dependent and feeder-free iPSC culture, RT-qPCR, immunocytochemistry.

• CRISPR IPSC whole genome CRISPR-Cas9 screens: The aim of this project is to perform whole genome drop out screens in iPSC lines to identify genes essential to cell survival. To do this you will use lentiviral transduction to produce stably expressing Cas9 lines which you will then screen with a whole genome guideRNA library targeting most of the genes in the human genome. The screened cells are analysed to identify guides which targets genes essential to cell survival.

Techniques involved include, culture and expansion of iPSC cells, production of lentiviral stocks, transduction of iPSC lines and flow cytometry.

The Cellular Generation and Phenotyping Core Facility (CGaP) is responsible for developing and delivering complex and large scale cell biology projects to support the scientific programs at the Sanger Institute.  The current portfolio of projects includes the generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and organoid lines, the differentiation and characterisation of the iPSC lines and the running of large scale CRISPR screens in cancer cell lines. More recently the department has embarked on projects working with malaria parasites, multi-drug resistant bacteria and the Human Cell Atlas project.

Reference:83131

Senior Database Curator - Cancer Genetics

Salary in the region of £36,373 - £44,011 (dependent on skills and experience) plus excellent benefits

Fixed Term Contract for 1.5 years

We are seeking a motivated and experienced scientist in cancer informatics to play a crucial role in the expansion and curation of the Cancer Gene Census in the COSMIC team at the Sanger institute, Hinxton. In this project, we aim to describe in detail every cancer-causing gene and how its mutated dysfunction drives disease.

COSMIC (http://cancer.sanger.ac.uk) is working with Open Targets (http://www.targetvalidation.org) to expand the world’s most comprehensive description of the genes causing human cancer. This is an exciting position within the COSMIC team, where you will have the opportunity to explore & interpret a wide range of literature, database and analytic resources to maximise the impact of this high-profile global resource, the Cancer Gene Census.

You will work together with COSMIC scientific team, bringing a range of analytic, curation and literature techniques to describe the oncogenic impact of genes implicated in cancer, including content across broad genomic surveys and model organism experiments. Currently the Census contains over 700 genes with full mechanistic description, together with a complete dysfunction impact assessment of approx. 1/3 of them. Our aim is to expand the Cancer Gene Census with new genes, and to generate full descriptive coverage of all Census genes with evidence of oncogenic activity, with descriptive evidence-based content including: mechanistic processes by which these genes are mutated to drive disease, definition of their impact in every cancer type, and description of oncogenic dysfunction of each gene in terms of the 10 Hallmarks of Cancer.

During this project, you will have substantial opportunities for learning and development, working closely with informaticians and cancer scientists in COSMIC, in the Sanger Institute, and software/database developers in Open Targets; informatic assistance is available to candidates with strong scientific expertise. The Cancer Gene Census is frequently cited in publications and regularly used as a key datasource in cancer genome analytics and databases; this project extends and completes this high-profile resource, offering multiple opportunities for very citeable publications. This project is funded for 18 months in the first instance, with opportunities for extension as the resource grows

Reference:83100

Senior Project Engineer

Salary in the region of £50,000 plus excellent benefits

A great opportunity for a Senior Project Engineer at the Wellcome Sanger Institute has arisen to work in the Capital Projects department.

The Capital Projects department works with key partner on campus to plan, design, manage and construct new buildings on site as well as to develop and improve existing campus facilities and buildings.

Reporting to the Director of Capital Projects, you will interact and lead a diverse customer base within multiple institutes as well as external stakeholders such as architects, MEP consultant, QS, local communities and regulatory bodies. Flexible and driven you will be able to rise to the challenge of a campus that is constantly changing. You will facilitate and handle building, facilities and infrastructure projects and be a key member of the professional project teams. As part of the role, you will also provide a comprehensive and all-encompassing projects service including at time being hands-on ensuring full adherence to the necessary Regulation and Statutory compliance process.

Collaborative, energetic and committed, you are a strong communicator able to develop and maintain relationships at all levels. You will be adaptable, with an innovative and creative approach, excellent problem solving and decision-making skills. You will have strong influencing and negotiating skills and be able to demonstrate inclusivity and respect for all.

Reference:83133

Senior Social Scientist

Salary range: £43,722 to £52,903 plus excellent benefits. Permanent contract

Wellcome Genome Campus Connecting Science is looking for a motivated and creative Senior Social Scientist to join the Society and Ethics Research group.

Reporting to the Head of Society and Ethics Research, you will support the work of the group as well as lead your own research on the social/communication/ethical impact of genomics. You will have experience of delivering high quality research that is internationally recognised. You will also keep up to date with a rapidly changing field and represent the Campus with care and sensitivity.

You will deliver original and impactful research outputs with success measured by publication in recognised journals, presentation at international conferences and impact in policy.

To view examples of Society and Ethics Research current work see: https://wgc.org.uk/ethics

Reference:83130

Senior Software Developer

Salary in the region of £41,000 plus excellent benefits

We are recruiting a senior software developer to join our team and build Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for the UK’s leading genetic research institute dedicated to improving human health. There will be exposure to all aspects of software development, from eliciting requirements from users, through development and testing, to deployment to production systems. The technologies used change over time, and you will be able influence the ones that are chosen.

You will work with a variety of technologies (including Vue.JS, Rails, Python, Java, REST, MySQL, RabbitMQ, Ansible, Git and OpenStack) to provide web-based LIMS to our internal customers. You will develop software that is used in the laboratories to track the work carried out and help the organisation work towards its mission to use genome sequences to increase understanding of human and pathogen biology to improve human health. The domain constantly evolves and challenges developers to construct inventive solutions.

Reference:83140

Senior Software Developer - HPC/Scientific Cloud Compute Platforms

Salary range £37,739 to £45,664 per annum depending on experience plus benefits

An exciting Software Development opportunity has become available to further develop our scientic software infrastructure to further assit our scientific research teams in their migration toward a more cloud native environment.

The position will be based in the Scientific Computing area of Sanger’s core IT team, at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This group currently provides >20,000 cores of traditional HPC compute and now an additional 6,000 cores dedicated to our internal OpenStack cloud.

Specifically, the role will involve developing our OpenStack based virtualised compute infrastructure, including tools for its management, maintenance and R&D. It will also require working closely with our scientific community to provide coding advice, guidance on the best practice use of cloud compute in an efficient, adaptable and scalable fashion.

This position would suit a Software Developer who enjoys developing software solutions for large scale data analysis, and would like to take on the challenge of an evolving devops environment.

We are looking for an individual who enjoys working in a multi-disciplinary team environment to help solve complex IT issues with an open mind.

Reference:83144