Lead Bioinformatician - Genomics

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), host of the North-West Genomic Laboratory Hub (NWGLH), is seeking an experienced Lead Bioinformatician to provide strategic and operational leadership across the North-West Genomic Medicine Service (NW GMS).

This senior role will lead the design, development and delivery of bioinformatics pipelines and infrastructure to support genomic diagnostics across rare disease and cancer pathways. The post holder will ensure high-quality, timely, and compliant genomic analysis and contribute to regional and national bioinformatics strategy.

Main duties of the job

• Lead on all aspects of bioinformatics across the NW GMS.
• Develop, implement and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for NGS and WGS.
• Ensure compliance with ISO 15189 and data governance standards.
• Lead and develop multidisciplinary bioinformatics teams.
• Ensure timely delivery of clinical bioinformatics outputs.
• Establish systems for secure storage and management of large genomic datasets.
• Collaborate with national organisations including Genomics England and NHS England.
• Drive innovation through research and adoption of emerging technologies.

Person specification — Knowledge and Experience (essential):

• Experience of developing, advising and implementing bioinformatics solutions.
• Experience at handling and interpreting genomic data including WGS.
• Reviewing and evaluating the latest bioinformatics tools and techniques.
• Experience of software development in an object-oriented language.
• Experience of leading, managing and developing teams.
• Experience managing complex bioinformatics integration projects.
• Experience in leading and managing change to improve service delivery.
• Management of data storage.
• Knowledge of NGS approaches and statistical methods.
• Thorough knowledge of bioinformatic tools for analysis and interpretation of genomic data.
• Good knowledge of UNIX; programming or scripting language knowledge and experience.
• Familiarity with storage, backup, transmission and sharing of large-scale data.
• Knowledge of ISO 15189:2012 standards applied to bioinformatics.
• Knowledge of human genetics and of data protection requirements.

Desirable: knowledge of requirements for Clinical Laboratory Accreditation (Bioinformatics); analysis of microarray (CNV) data.

Skills and Abilities (essential)

• High level of practical ability in NGS analysis techniques.
• Able to initiate and manage R&D activities, and organise and manage complex activities.
• Able to provide leadership and training to scientific, technical and clinical teams.
• Able to recognise patterns of abnormality and relate them to clinical situations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

About the organisation: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) is a leading, integrated healthcare provider — the largest of its kind in specialist services. Its Oxford Road Campus is the largest health academic campus in Europe, serving over 1 million people per year through 10 hospitals and extensive community services, with a workforce of 30,000 plus.

Details: Grade NHS AfC Band 8c. Contract: Permanent. Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (a Saturday on-call rota is in operation for all senior staff in the NWGLH). Site: North-West Genomic Laboratory Hub, Manchester. Job ref: 349-SPH-8011908-RL4. Salary: £79,504 - £91,609 per annum (pro rata).