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COME AND JOIN US!

Microbial Genomics Scientist

Compound Discovery

We are looking for a microbial genomic scientist to help us analyse secondary metabolite-producing Biosynthetic Gene Clusters for identifying novel antimicrobials

Role

In this role, you will join our compound discovery team to analyse secondary metabolite-producing Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs) for identifying novel antimicrobials

Team

Bactobio is looking for a BGC scientist with experience in computational biology, genomics and natural products to join our growing team. The successful candidate will work cross-functionally across multiple teams from prioritizing microbes for screening, to predicting natural products encoded by BGCs and aiding in discovery of novel antimicrobials. They will be working closely with a team of bioinformaticians, microbiologists, analytical chemists and synthetic biologists to discover novel natural products from our growing diverse bacterial collection. This is an exceptional opportunity for scientists with a drive for problem solving and data mining to be a part of the antimicrobial discovery platform.

Responsibilities:  

  • Continuous optimisation and development of our bacterial BGC detection platform as well as summarizing and visualizing outputs from multiple BGC prediction tools

  • Analyse BGCs to link metabolomics and genomics

  • Collaborate with microbiologists and synthetic biologists to guide microbial screening and BGC expression

  • Work closely with analytical chemists to detect and filter natural products based on strain activity and BGC information

  • Contribute to maintaining our in-house LIMS system by working with bioinformaticians and machine-learning experts

  • Disseminate data in an easily digestible format to collaborators as well as technical and non-technical stake-holders

Skills and experience:

  • A PhD degree in computational biology, biotechnology, biochemistry or a related field

  • 2+ years of relevant post-PhD experience, preferably in industry

  • Experience with bacterial biosynthetic gene cluster analyses

  • 3+ years working in Python or R with knowledge of version control and branch management

 

It would be great if you had:

  • Experience in working with downstream BGC pathway prediction and elucidation

  • Deep understanding of BGC prediction tools such as antiSMASH and deepBGC

  • 2+ years’ experience with relational databases (e.g. MySQL)

  • Mechanistic understanding of the bacterial secondary metabolite BGCs

  • Excellent communication skills for publishing data findings and conclusions within the company and to third-party collaborators

Facilities

Bactobio has over 300 sqm of laboratory space with high-end equipment spanning microbiology through to analytical chemistry. Within compound discovery, this includes a dedicated analytical chemistry suite with multiple LCMS and HPLC systems and an automation suite with bioreactors, a flow cytometer and liquid handling machines.

Benefits include:

  • Competitive starting salary £45,000 - £55,000 per year

  • The chance to be part of a fun multicultural group of kind and ambitious people that are impact driven

  • Brand new, modern labs in Central London with dedicated office space, large balconies and 360’ views of the London skyline

  • 25 days holiday + bank holidays

  • Enhanced Sick Pay

  • Flexible start and finish times within the company’s core hours to fit your preferences

  • Diverse team of colleagues (check out our website to meet us)

  • Weekly team activities including board games, sports activities, and socials on Fridays

  • Complimentary snacks, fruits, tea, coffee, soft drinks,...

  • Access to 1000s of training courses through Udemy, with an allowance for both personal development and work-related training

  • Bike2Work scheme

Are you interested in joining us?
Send us your CV and an introductory paragraph using the link below

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