Senior Bioinformatics Scientist

What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity?

At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients.

Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible.

Senior Bioinformatics Scientist - United Kingdom Hybrid, Cambridge UK Internal Only Closing Date:
Friday 25th September As Sr Bioinformatics Scientist here at Illumina in Cambridge, you will join a multidisciplinary and multinational team at the intersection of research and clinical practice, focused on transforming human health through next-generation sequencing technologies. In this role, you will contribute to the development and advancement of DRAGEN, Illumina’s industry-leading secondary analysis platform, creating innovative algorithms and biomarkers that help address critical gaps in clinical oncology.

Working closely with both internal and external collaborators, you will play a key role in advancing precision medicine through cutting-edge analysis of high-throughput sequencing data, including applications in areas such as minimal residual disease (MRD) and methylation.

Illumina's employee benefits are industry-leading and include, flexible time off, private medical insurance, compassion and care time off, leisure travel insurance, pension, employee stock purchasing program, volunteer time off, and much more!

Why You:
You are passionate about using genomics to transform the practice of medicine and are motivated by the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on patient outcomes. You bring a strong background in bioinformatics, computational biology, statistics, mathematics, or a related discipline, combined with expertise in algorithm development and the analysis of next-generation sequencing data.

To be successful in this role, you will possess deep knowledge in at least two of the following areas: statistics, common bioinformatics methods, NGS analysis, C++ software development, and oncology. You have a proven track record of developing bioinformatics algorithms beyond the use of existing tools and enjoy solving complex scientific challenges through innovative thinking and rigorous analysis. Strong programming skills in Python are essential, and experience with C++ is highly desirable.

You thrive in collaborative, cross-functional environments and are an effective communicator who can translate complex technical concepts to a variety of audiences. You are driven by curiosity, innovation, and a commitment to excellence while embracing Illumina’s value of Win Together through productive partnerships across scientific, engineering, and commercial teams.

Responsibilities:

Assess and improve existing secondary analysis algorithms for somatic variant calling and tumor biomarker detection

Prototype and evaluate novel NGS algorithms for clinical oncology applications, including MRD and emerging biomarker opportunities

Analyze sequencing data at the read level to identify opportunities for algorithmic improvements and innovative solutions

Design, execute, and interpret experiments in partnership with internal and external research and development teams

Support the development and optimization of oncology assays through advanced bioinformatics analysis

Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to troubleshoot…