Principal Scientist - Bioinformatics - Cancer Genomics / Immunology

Key Skills

Analytical and Problem solving, Bioinformatics, Data science techniques, Effective communication skills, Python Programming, R Programming, Statistical modeling

Job Description

Position Overview:

Clinical Bioinformatics & Exploratory Analytics, as a part of the Clinical Data Science organization, supports drug development and other business use cases across Gilead by providing data analytical, engineering, and visualization solutions to enable scientific and other business exploration and decision-making, including statistical analysis, genomic data processing and analysis, general machine learning and deep learning, and other technical infrastructure. You will lead design, development, and implementation of statistical, bioinformatics and machine learning methods that integrate large multi-modal datasets to derive quantitative biological insights or perform hypothesis-driven biomarker analyses that support clinical development, translation of clinical findings, and other business decision-making. You will also contribute to presentations and publications of clinical genomics and biomarker findings either as conference publications, journal publications, or regulatory documents for new drug applications/filings submitted to regulatory agencies. The title and job scope may be adjusted based on the experience level.

EXAMPLE RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Contributes to short- and long-range Clinical Bioinformatics & Exploratory Analytics strategies, plans and infrastructure development.
• Plays a key role in both internal and external collaborations in complex data analysis, including but not limited to genomic data, protein assay data, cytokine and chemokine data from patient samples, to support patient stratification and biomarker selection for Gilead’s clinical development programs.
• Develops predictive models using statistical techniques and machine learning for analysis of large omics and high dimensional data from internal, publicly available, commercial and Real-World datasets to enable target assessment, drug combinations, understanding of MOA, disease mechanisms and resistance, etc.
• Designs and executes data analysis plans, communicates findings and recommends follow-up actions in multiple settings, including one-to-ones, seminars, group and project meetings.
• Plays a lead role in development of team and department-level standards, tools and templates.
• Provides matrix leadership to multiple teams in the development and maintenance of bioinformatics processes and applications.
• Develops and implements quality assessments, statistical analysis and data visualization for multi-omics datasets, e.g., RNA-Seq, single cell sequencing, WES, WGS, etc.
• Provides expertise and technical consultation for external collaborations/partnerships in academia and industry.
• Creates and manages resource plans for assigned work. Identifies cross-project synergies to leverage efficiencies and ensure consistencies where appropriate.
• Ensures assigned work complies with established practices, policies and processes and any regulatory or other requirements.

Minimum Education & Experience:

• PhD in bioinformatics, computer science, computational biology, genomics, statistics, data science, or a related field with 8+ years of bioinformatics or related experience
• Extensive experience in cancer genomics/immunology and Biomarker/Bioinformatics experience in clinical development
• Strong programming skills in key languages used by bioinformatics, data science, and statistics, e.g. R, Python, etc with proven capabilities to manipulate large and sophisticated data sets
• Significant experience working with cloud computing systems, data management systems, advanced statistical software, and visualization tools.
• Strong proficiencies in problem-solving, bioinformatics or other data analytics algorithm design, genomic and proteomic technologies, and high throughput experimental techniques, e.g., next generation sequencing technologies, single cell technologies and/or their applications.
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals
• Outstanding presentation and communication skills that foster collaboration and teamwork

Knowledge & Other Requirements 

• Demonstrated ability to be a fast learner.
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible and adaptable to change, to move between projects easily and provide support/expertise where needed.
• Proven analytical abilities with high attention-to-detail as demonstrated through past experiences and/or academic achievements, including statistical knowledge, such as probability theory, statistical power, univariate and/or multivariate analysis, unsupervised and supervised analysis, regression analysis, survival analysis, etc.
• Proven ability to conduct effective and efficient exploratory analysis on large volumes of data and identify key descriptive and inferential properties.
• Strong communication and organizational skills. Demonstrable abilities to effectively communicate project direction and status to varying organizational levels, including leadership teams, executives, and steering committees.
• Demonstrated excellence in complex project management and effectively managing multiple projects and priorities.
• Line management (direct reports) experience with hiring, managing, and developing diverse top talent preferred.
• Strong leadership presence with demonstrated ability to lead without authority and influence programs, projects and/or initiatives.
• When needed, ability to travel.

The salary range for this position is: $221,170.00 - $286,220.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans.