Senior Bioinformatics Scientist – Synbio
| Company | Twist Bioscience |
|---|---|
| Location | San Bruno, CA, USA |
| Salary | $150000 – $186103 |
| Type | Full-Time |
| Degrees | Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD |
| Experience Level | Senior |
Requirements
- Bachelor’s/Master’s degree with 6–8 years of industry experience, or a Ph.D. with 3+ years of industry experience in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Genomics, Computational Biology, or a related field
- Experience with ONT, Illumina, or PacBio sequencing technologies
- Proficiency in workflow management tools (Nextflow, Snakemake)
- Hands-on experience designing predictive models for sequence design & synthetic biology applications
- Expertise in Python (Pandas, NumPy, SciPy) and visualization libraries (Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly)
- Experience with machine learning frameworks (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch) applied to biological sequence data
- Familiarity with R, SQL, or other statistical tools
- Understanding of DNA assembly, cloning techniques, and molecular biology workflows
- Ability to interpret experimental data and provide feedback on laboratory procedures
Responsibilities
- Develop bioinformatics methods supporting DNA assembly strategies and synthetic biology workflows
- Apply machine learning and predictive modeling to improve DNA assembly success rates and optimize synthesis parameters
- Collaborate with wet-lab scientists to analyze and troubleshoot molecular biology processes
- Develop bioinformatics approaches for diagnosing and resolving complex DNA synthesis and assembly issues
- Build and maintain NGS analysis pipelines (e.g., Nextflow) to support quality control and performance tracking of synthetic biology products
- Leverage Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), Illumina, or PacBio sequencing to analyze and optimize synthesis workflows
- Develop predictive models to identify challenging sequences and recommend optimizations to improve synthesis efficiency
- Ensure pipeline accuracy, reproducibility, and scalability in research environments
- Apply advanced statistical and machine learning methods to evaluate improvements in synthetic biology product iterations
- Use Python, R, and visualization tools to generate actionable insights and present findings to stakeholders
- Design and implement novel bioinformatics algorithms for sequence analysis and synthetic biology applications
- Partner with R&D, manufacturing, and product development teams to troubleshoot assay issues and implement data-driven solutions
- Support the broader Bioinformatics team by integrating synthetic biology workflows with existing genomic data processing pipelines
- Assist with customer-facing analyses related to synthetic biology assay performance
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience developing design algorithms for synthetic biology applications
- Familiarity with deep learning approaches for biological sequence analysis
- Exposure to high-throughput experimental design and laboratory automation
- Hands-on experience with gene synthesis and synthetic biology assay development