Are you an experienced data engineer/data scientist/informatician looking for an exciting new challenge? Then why not join our Data Sciences & Quantitative Biology team in Cambridge, UK and you will play a key role in enabling and supporting our DNA Encoded Library (DEL) drug discovery strategy. You will join a multi-disciplinary team of data scientists and laboratory researchers in improving how we analyse and interpret DEL screening data, working closely together to streamline this important phase of finding the drugs of the future.

This is a great opportunity for you to apply your bioinformatics and data engineering skills in a fast-moving and multi-disciplinary area, on a relatively new approach to discovering new drugs to treat disease. The role will encompass a variety of approaches, including data management, pipelining, integration, analysis, visualisation and collaboration with chemists and biologists. You will benefit from being part of a global multi-disciplinary data science department, working on projects across different therapeutic areas, in close partnership with experimentalists.

At AstraZeneca we believe in the potential of our people and you’ll develop beyond what you thought possible. We make the most of your skills and passion by actively supporting you to see what you can achieve no matter where you start with us.

What you’ll do

• Collaborating effectively with experimentalists and other data scientists/ bioinformaticians/ chemoinformaticians to manage, create and maintain the analysis pipeline and generate insights from data relating to our DEL screening efforts. (Experience in DEL screening would be useful but not necessary)
• Working with function area leads (e.g. assay design, NGS, synthetic chemistry, protein production) to identify additional opportunities for data science to support our DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) drug screening projects, as our understanding and needs evolve.
• Communicate efficiently and effectively with biologists and chemists to understand requirements and translate them into data science problems and solutions.
• Ensuring scientific excellence in software, pipelines, processes and results as well as being efficient, practical, collaborative, proactive and delivering well documented work.

Essential Criteria

• PhD, or equivalent experience, in bioinformatics, chemical biology, computational chemistry, mathematics, statistics, or the life sciences
• A solid understanding of biological and chemistry concepts, data and information types – for example relating to assays and screening technologies.
• Experience with Linux computing systems and job scheduling (e.g. slurm), with relevant programming languages and environments such as R/R-Shiny/python/Dash/shell/perl/javascript and cloud-based systems (e.g. AWS), development tools (e.g. Git, conda), pipeline tools (e.g. snakemake, nextflow) and databasing approaches (SQL and NoSQL). Ability to choose the most appropriate option for a given challenge.
• Ability to work collaboratively, effectively, flexibly, and iteratively with multi-disciplinary teams.(e.g. biologists, chemists, data scientists, statisticians). Strong communication skills, with technical and non-technical collaborators.

Desirable Criteria

• Specific experience in DEL screening or related high-throughput screening technologies
• Experience in statistical and mathematical modelling would be an advantage
• Cheminformatics experience: similarities between small molecules using tools such as RDKit or CDK and clustering of molecules into families of similar chemotypes
• Experience analysing NGS datasets
• Knowledge related to structural bioinformatics e.g. protein structure analysis and visualisation, docking, molecular dynamics or quantum chemical calculations
• Software engineering skills e.g. database design, or experience with Docker

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca when we see an opportunity for change, we seize it and make it happen, because any opportunity no matter how small, can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being results-oriented - finding those moments and recognising their potential. Join us on our journey of building a new kind of organisation to reset expectations of what a bio-pharmaceutical company can be. This means we’re opening new ways to work, ground-breaking ground breaking methods and bringing unexpected teams together.

So, what’s next?

If you’re passionate about the possibilities of science to make a difference and ready to discover what you can do then join us!

We invite you to submit your application online by midnight on 16th February 2021.

AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer. AstraZeneca will consider all qualified applicants for employment without discrimination on grounds of disability, sex or sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity leave status, race or national or ethnic origin, age, religion or belief, gender identity or re-assignment, marital or civil partnership status, protected veteran status (if applicable) or any other characteristic protected by law.

Where can I find out more?

Our Social Media, Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/

Follow AstraZeneca on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/astrazenecacareers/

Follow AstraZeneca on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/astrazeneca_careers/?hl=en