Molecular Modeller/Bioinformatician

Job description

Computational Toxicologist

Full/Part Time

Full-time

Location

Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire

Description

Job Title: Computational Toxicologist
Function: Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC)
Location: Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook
Salary: Competitive, plus excellent company benefits

The role sits within Unilever's Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), which is responsible for carrying out safety assessments of all Unilever products. The role primarily involves providing bioinformatics expertise for the design and development of a novel informatics infrastructure for SEAC. This infrastructure will provide a platform that will incorporate a knowledge management system, data integration tools, models and databases (both internal and external) to enable both expert computational biologists and risk assessors to apply Next Generation Risk Assessment skills and technologies to safety risk and impact assessments for Unilever. The platform will need to be capable of handling biological and chemical assay, omics and high content image data types. The role will also work across R&D to ensure that flexible approaches and resources are built and adopted for a wider R&D user base. The role will be part of team leading the change agenda within SEAC, to ensure that novel approaches for risk and impact assessment are embedded within the organisation.

You will be required to work with a range of scientific experts in a number of different disciplines, including biologists, toxicologists, eco-toxicologists, computational chemists and mathematical modellers. You will need to be able to communicate effectively with stakeholders and provide training for experts and non-experts within SEAC.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
As a member of the Bioinformatics Team the role holder will:
· Drive implementation of our strategy for advancing our capabilities for data management and integration from internal & public sources
· Lead the design and development of components of the platform; including development and dissemination of user-friendly tools, workflows and databases to a wide group of scientists within the company
· Identify and develop partnerships with external suppliers and experts in the informatics field
· Interface effectively and work closely with scientists across SEAC to identify requirements for data storage, retrieval and visualisation
· Provide training to both expert and non-expert users to ensure novel approaches are embedded within the organisation
· Work with other scientists in R&D to drive adoption of new informatics infrastructure and approaches
· Joint responsibility for the design, development and dissemination of a knowledge management system, data integration system, user-friendly tools, workflows and databases to a wide group of scientists within SEAC and wider Unilever R&D
· Lead development of specific tools
· Contribute to the design and development of a data visualisation platform
· Facilitate data collection and work with the Informatics team and Data and Systems team to implement data integration
· Identify meta-data requirements
· Liaise with external data providers to ensure data structure aligns to in-house requirements and appropriate meta-data is obtained
· Develop working partnerships with leaders in the informatics field e.g. Thompson Reuters, European Bioinformatics Institute and identify opportunities for co-development opportunities
· Lead aspects of development for the knowledge management system across wider R&D
· Work closely with user groups within SEAC and wider R&D

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
· Experience of ontology-based data integration
· Experience/understanding of big data technologies e.g. Hadoop
· Relevant degree in bioinformatics or computational biology or equivalent with significant professional experience in this area
· Strong technical background with demonstrated programming skills in at least one of the following: Perl, Python, R, Java, PHP,SQL
· Strong problem solving capability and ability to work autonomously
· Strong written & verbal communication skills
· Ability to lead and motivate others
· Ability to communicate complex concepts to a non-expert audience
· Demonstrated ability to work in cross capability teams

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE, SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
· Experience in database design
· Experience of high performance computing
· Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams on research problems
· Demonstrable experience of working with standard bioinformatics tools and databases (e.g. ChEMBL, ArrayExpress, KEGG, Taverna, Pipeline Pilot, Cytoscape etc)
· Experience in creating scripts to mine and integrate data from external sources
· Familiar with LINUX environment and basic systems administration
· Experience of handling and accessing diverse biology/chemistry datasets & databases

Unilever Statement
We are Unilever. We work to create a better future every day.

We help people look good, feel good and get more out of life with brands and service that are good for them and good for others.

We will inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the world.

We will develop new ways of doing business that will allow us to double the size of the company while reducing our environmental impacts.

To Apply: To apply, you must do so online using the link below. Your application will be reviewed against our requirements and we will be in touch shortly after the closing date to provide you with an update on the status of your application.

Candidates who have applied can access their status update through the candidate tracking link or, for any additional queries, by contacting the Recruitment hotline number on 0800 0284390.

Please note that the closing date for the receipt of applications is 6th February 2017.
www.unilever.co.uk/careers

Then go to: Careers, Experienced professional link, go to vacancies in the UK, scroll down list of roles to highlight environmental sustainability role – you may need to put in something like “sustainability” into the search bar to find the role