Principal Bioninformatics Scientist

At Veracyte, we offer exciting career opportunities for those interested in joining a pioneering team that is committed to transforming cancer care for patients across the globe. Working at Veracyte enables our employees to not only make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients, but to also learn and grow within a purpose driven environment. This is what we call the Veracyte way
– it’s about how we work together, guided by our values, to give clinicians the insights they need to help patients make life-changing decisions.

Our Values:

• We Seek A Better Way
  :
  We pursue bold ideas, embrace complexity, and keep pushing forward.
• We Make It Happen
  :
  We act with urgency, deliver with excellence, and always find a way.
• We Are Stronger Together
  :
  We engage with empathy, align around what's best for Veracyte, and celebrate as one team.
• We Care Deeply
  :
  We show up with integrity, kindness, and respect for one another.

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly experienced and motivated Principal Bioinformatics Scientist to lead the bioinformatics strategy, design, and development of next-generation minimal residual disease (MRD) laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). This role is a senior technical leadership position responsible for shaping assay concepts, driving analytical development and validation, and partnering closely with wet-lab, clinical, quality, regulatory, and software teams to deliver robust, clinically actionable MRD diagnostics for multiple indications.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in NGS-based oncology assays, strong understanding of ctDNA biology and a proven track record of industry assay development under design control. This individual will serve as a scientific and technical leader, owning assay bioinformatics from concept through analytical validation and launch.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Scientific & Technical Leadership

• Lead bioinformatics strategy for MRD assay design, development, optimization, and lifecycle management for LDTs developed under CAP/CLIA quality systems.
• Serve as the bioinformatics owner, driving study design, data analysis, performance characterization, and decision‑making throughout development.
• Apply deep domain knowledge in cancer genomics, ctDNA biology, and NGS technologies to inform assay architecture, variant detection strategies, and error suppression approaches.

Assay Development & Validation

• Design and execute analytical studies to evaluate assay performance, including accuracy, limit of detection, and reproducibility, in collaboration with wet‑lab and biostatistics partners.
• Develop, validate, and maintain scalable, production‑ready bioinformatics pipelines for MRD analysis, including QC, variant calling, MRD calling logic, and reporting.
• Lead benchmarking and optimization of computational methods, including background error modeling, and longitudinal MRD tracking.
• Ensure compliance with standards (CAP/CLIA, FDA, IVDR) throughout the bioinformatics development lifecycle, including rigorous testing and documentation.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with molecular biology, assay development, QA/RA, clinical, and software engineering teams to ensure bioinformatics solutions are aligned with assay design, regulatory expectations, and operational constraints.
• Facilitate successful production pipeline deployment by working closely with infrastructure and engineering teams
• Contribute to regulatory submissions and audits by providing technical documentation and validation report, and responses to audits or regulatory inquiries.

Mentorship & Influence

• Mentor junior scientists by providing technical and scientific guidance, helping raise the overall bar of assay development rigor and execution.
• Communicate complex analytical concepts and results clearly to both computational and non‑computational stakeholders, including senior leadership.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Biostatistics, or a closely related quantitative field.
• Minimum 8 years of total relevant experience, with at least 5 years of direct industry experience in biotech, diagnostics, or regulated healthcare environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading…