Technician, Sequencing & Bioinformatics; Genome Technology Core

Organization

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

455 Main Street
Cambridge , MA 02142
United States

68,

Health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, relocation assistance, PTO, LTD, STD, retirement plan, subsidized transportation/parking, parental leave, tuition reimbursement

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY
The Genomics Technology Core Technician serves as a central point of expertise for sequencing and analytical operations. This role bridges wet‑lab execution and computational analysis, supporting both short‑and‑long read sequencing workflows. The Technician will help internal and external clients on sequencing technologies, guide project design, manage client communication, and deliver rigorous data pre‑processing, quality control, and downstream analysis. Will contribute to hands‑on support in the laboratory as needed.

• Advise clients on appropriate sequencing technologies (short‑read, long‑read, single‑cell, spatial) and help define project parameters, expected outputs, and deliverables.
• Perform primary NGS data processing including demultiplexing, alignment, and quality assessment (FastQC, Multi
  
  QC, etc.).
• Conduct secondary analysis as required, including variant calling, differential expression, or genome assembly depending on project needs.
• Develop and maintain reproducible analysis pipelines.
• Use and update LIMS and genomics databases to track samples, datasets, and project metadata.
• Communicate effectively with researchers at all levels to ensure deliverables meet scientific objectives.
• Document protocols, analysis workflows, and results clearly for both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Assist with NGS related services, quality control (Bioanalyzer, Tape Station, Qubit), and sequencer operation as needed.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of core facility processes and standard operating procedures.
• Other tasks, as required.

• BS in Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of relevant hands‑on experience.
• Demonstrated expertise coordinating NGS workflows including short‑read (e.g., Illumina, Elements) and long‑read (e.g., Oxford Nanopore, Pac Bio) sequencing platforms.
• Demonstrated expertise in single cell technologies.
• Experience advising researchers or clients on sequencing technology selection and experimental design.
• Proficiency with NGS data pre‑processing and quality control tools (e.g., Trimmomatic, Multi
  
  QC, Samtools, Cell Ranger).
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics data analysis workflows.
• Command‑line proficiency in a Linux/Unix environment; ability to write and maintain analysis scripts in Python.
• Experience with genomics databases and data management (e.g., LIMS, SQL or similar).
• Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills; demonstrated ability to manage external client relationships.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in a high‑throughput service environment.
• Willingness to contribute to bench‑level laboratory work when scientific or operational needs arise.

• Familiarity with spatial biology techniques.
• Familiarity with laboratory automation for liquid handling.
• Experience with workflow management systems (e.g., Snakemake, Nextflow) and version control (Git).
• Exposure to cloud computing environments or HPC clusters for large‑scale data analysis.