Principal Scientist - Bioinformatics

Company: GlaxoSmithKline
Location: Cambridge
Posted on: May 24, 2025

Job Description:

At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. R&D is committed to discovering and delivering transformational vaccines and medicines to prevent and change the course of disease.We believe the Greater Boston area is an important hub for the biotech and pharma industry, which is why we've invested in growing our footprint and expanding our R&D space in Cambridge, with a primary focus on additional state-of-the-art lab space. Here, we will bring together talent and expertise, building upon GSK's long history of vaccine development, to create globally leading viral capabilities and cutting-edge vaccines technologies, as we add to our robust portfolio targeting infectious diseases at every stage of life.In the plan to create a new hub for mRNA-based vaccine discovery in Cambridge, we are building new laboratories that will be focused on the development of state-of-the-art methods that will be supporting deep product understanding, process and product development, as well as testing of pre-clinical and clinical samples for new mRNA-based vaccines.As a Principal Bioinformatics Scientist in the Molecular Analytics team, you will be expected to contribute toward our omics-based program supporting our mRNA-based vaccine discovery efforts. You will join our diverse preclinical research and development team working on cutting-edge technologies in addition to developing new assays suitable for candidate screening and mechanism of action studies.Key Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, optimize, and implement next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis pipelines for the characterization of RNA and DNA molecules of interest for vaccine research and development, and their mechanism of action.
• Execute a wide range of traditional computational tasks, such as sequence identity and variant calling analysis, vector integration site analysis, gene expression profiling (bulk, single cell, spatial) from data generated across sequencing platforms, e.g. short and long read sequencers.
• Analyze, interpret, and record experimental results and present them in written/oral communications.
• Build statistical models and/or machine learning algorithms to extract features of interest.
• Develop, and execute new methods and protocols and proactively incorporate new technology or techniques into practice with minimal supervision.
• Collaborate with scientists throughout the organization to support NGS activities.
• Perform complex data management tasks with supervision.
• Lead vaccine development-related scientific investigations and publish the work in scientific journals and patent filings.Basic Qualifications:
  • Degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology, data or computer science, applied math, statistics, or related scientific field.
  • PhD with 3+ years of post-doc and/or job-related experience, MS with 6+ years of experience, or BS with 9+ years of experience.
  • Five or more years of academic or industry experience in computational biology or bioinformatics, along with genomics, epigenomics, or transcriptomics.
  • Five or more years of experience in programming (R and Python) and computational environments (Linux, HPC, cloud computing).
  • Five or more years of experience handling NGS data.
  • Five or more years of experience in next-generation sequencing technologies (Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore) and their applications, e.g., bulk RNA-seq, single cell omics, immune repertoire profiling.Preferred Qualifications:
    • Proficiency in single cell and spatial omics data analysis and interpretation, using data generated from commercially available technologies such as 10x Genomics, Parse Bio, Scale Bio.
    • Proficiency in long-read sequencing data analysis from PacBio or ONT platforms.
    • Working knowledge of molecular and cell biology.
    • Effective written and oral communication skills as well as presentation skills. Fluency in English.
    • Must be detail oriented; possess problem solving skills, and the ability to handle multiple tasks.
    • Able to efficiently manage uncertainty, changes in priorities and timeline restrictions.
    • Experience in advanced statistics and AI/ML.
    • Hands-on experience in molecular and cell biology related to NGS, including but not limited to: Nucleic acid extraction, PCR, library preparation, and sequencing.
    • Experience in developing fully custom NGS analysis pipelines.#Vx-Cam#Li-GSKPlease visit to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.Why GSK?Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose - to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together - so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns - as an organisation where people can thrive. We prevent and treat disease with vaccines, specialty and general medicines. We focus on the science of the immune system and the use of new platform and data technologies, investing in four core therapeutic areas (infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/ immunology and oncology).Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it's also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a place where people feel inspired, encouraged and challenged to be the best they can be. A place where they can be themselves - feeling welcome, valued, and included. Where they can keep growing and look after their wellbeing. So, if you share our ambition, join us at this exciting moment in our journey to get Ahead Together.If you require an accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at GSK, please contact the GSK Service Centre at 1-877-694-7547 (US Toll Free) or +1 801 567 5155 (outside US).GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.Important notice to Employment businesses/ AgenciesGSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK's compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at
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Keywords: GlaxoSmithKline, Marthas Vineyard , Principal Scientist - Bioinformatics, Other , Cambridge, Massachusetts