Asst Staff - Research Bioinformaticist

Key Skills

Aartificial intelligence, Algorithms, Bioinformatics, Software Development

Job Description

Group 22—Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (C-WMD) Systems Group. The C-WMD Systems Group develops innovative systems and technologies for prevention, preparedness, characterization, detection, mitigation, medical response, remediation, and attribution of CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) and related threats. Our principal R&D sponsors are the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Activities within the group are highly collaborative and multidisciplinary; as a result we draw from a very diverse talent pool across the fields of engineering (e.g., electrical, mechanical, chemical, biomedical, general), physics, mathematics, data and computer science, chemistry, and biology. Staff members work in a mission-oriented, team environment to study and develop solutions for a broad range of technical questions of importance to countering the proliferation and use of WMDs.

Job Description

As an Assistant Technical Staff - Research Bioinfomaticist you will work with your team to address key national stakeholder needs and further the Group’s mission by assisting with the development of new and leveraging existing bioinformatics/AI algorithms and conducting computational and qualitative analyses of future technological needs and solutions in WMD defense. Example problems include developing bioinformatics algorithms for predicting the properties of proteins/peptides or predicting phylogenetic origin and coding potential of nucleic acid sequences and guiding their deployment as software tools; assessing, developing and testing sensors and sensing architectures to enable rapid detection of WMD threats; and evaluating technologies and architecture concepts to aid in advanced situational awareness. As needed, technology development and testing may be conducted, which involves testing in a laboratory and/or in operational settings. Our work is conducted in collaboration with stakeholder and first responder communities. We expect the position requirements will change and grow according to national needs, group strategy, and research interests of the successful candidate. For example, in the future, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to molecular biological research and development.

Requirements

• B.S. in Biology, Computational Biology, Applied Mathematics, Data Science or related scientific field, or equivalent experience in technical analysis.

• Experience with developing new and leveraging existing DNA and protein sequence bioinformatics pipelines, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms, and metagenomics.

• A demonstrated ability to think at a high, system-level about long-term grand challenges with respect to biological technologies.

• Ability to work collaboratively within and lead highly interdisciplinary teams.

• Demonstrated skills in scientific writing and/or development and presentation of technical materials to varied technical and non-technical audiences including the ability to clearly present concepts to a wide spectrum of audiences.

• Occasional travel (<10%) with optional opportunities for travel to contribute to group field tests.

Experience with state-of-the-art molecular biology laboratory techniques like qPCR, DNA sequencing, CRISPR, etc.; software development basics to enable collaborative tool development; and national security applications are a plus.

For Benefits Information, clickhttp://hrweb.mit.edu/benefits

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

To safeguard our health and well-being, MIT Lincoln Laboratory requires COVID-19 vaccination for all employees. Individuals may request exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reason.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.