Research Assistant

Position Summary
At the JCVI, we use single cell/nucleus RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies to understand cell type diversity in both normal tissue and a variety of different disease states, as well as metagenomic sequencing to examine microbiome constituents. Our team applies advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) approaches to analyze the large-scale scRNA-seq data and metagenomic data, which are collected by many collaborating scientists from around the world, to expedite scientific discoveries in health and disease.

The Research Assistant position at the JCVI Center for Single Cell Genomics is responsible for applying in-house and publicly available computational algorithms to analyze scRNA-seq datasets generated in-house, from collaborators, and from public repositories. This position will interact with members of the Single Cell Genomics team in La Jolla, CA, and will assist in scRNA-seq bioinformatics pipelines, including processing raw data from sequencing platforms, quality control, metadata collection, data curation, normalization and transformation, dimensionality reduction, nearest neighbor search, community detection clustering, marker gene identification, cell type annotation, and cell type matching. The Research Assistant will also participate in communications with collaborators, results presentation, manuscript preparation and publication.

Essential Functions

• Keep current with knowledge in relevant scientific disciplines.
• Curation and management of relevant dataset, including raw data and metadata.
• Handle large dataset using Python and R.
• Use advanced computational methods to analyze single cell genomics data.
• Run computationally intensive jobs on high performance computing server.
• Publish scientific work in peer-reviewed journals.
• Participate and present in video conferences with project collaborators.
• Execute projects within estimated time frames.
• Be collaborative and innovative to meet the projects' goals.
• Strictly adhere to all documented JCVI policies and procedures to include carrying out all functions required of Institute employees (e.g., completion of timesheets in an accurate and timely manner).

Prerequisites

• Bachelor's degree required, master's degree preferred, in a relevant scientific discipline, such as Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Statistics, or Computer Science.
• Must be able to analyze and interpret scientific data.
• Programming skills in Python and R are required.
• Experience with single cell data analysis is a plus.
• Ability to use sound judgment to effectively solve problems within the scope of the position.
• Ability to conduct investigations in relevant scientific areas.
• High level of initiative and ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Excellent organization and time management skill.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to effectively interact with all levels of staff and external contacts; ability to work as an effective team member.
• Superior verbal and written communications skills.

Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a teammate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic).
• Ability to work in a confined area.
• Ability to sit at a computer terminal for an extended period of time.
• Ability to stand and/or sit for an extended period of time while working in the lab.

Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard reach, stoop kneel to install computer equipment.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer and lab work.
• Light to moderate lifting is required.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee.

J. Craig Venter Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.

JCVI does not provide relocation assistance for this position.

JCVI does not provide sponsorship for this position.