Computational Biologist, Viral Genomics

Company Summary:

Arana Biosciences is one of the latest companies founded through Flagship Pioneering’s venture creation engine, where companies such as Moderna Therapeutics and Evelo Therapeutics were conceived and created. Since Flagship’s founding in 2000, the firm has originated and fostered the development of nearly 100 scientific ventures resulting in $19+ billion in aggregate value, 500+ issued patents, and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents. Arana Biosciences is integrating the latest developments in molecular biology and plant biology to create a new platform technology that enables adaptive, targeted and sustainable solutions in agriculture.

Position Summary:

We are seeking a curious and inspired Computational Biologist with expertise in viral biology and novel genome discovery and assembly from environmental sequencing data to join our passionate team at Arana Biosciencesto revolutionize agriculture. You will tackle computational challenges to discover novel microorganisms and viruses, and interface directly with molecular engineering teams to test your discoveries. In conjunction with experimentalists, you will analyze next-generation sequencing data from an ecological and functional perspective to build our platform technology. Your role will involve aspects of data management/infrastructure to build automated/standalone pipelines. You will be a key player to translate early-stage discovery to empirical lab validation. You thrive in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment as an integral part of a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary team. The level of the role will be determined by education and years of experience.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Analyze next-generation sequencing data to discover novel sequences of interest
• Assemble and annotate novel viral genomes and RNA features from metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data, and develop new computational methods or leverage existing methodologies
• Create and maintain pipelines for processing high-throughput next-generation sequencing data for comparative genomics and gene discovery studies
• Develop and refine systems to aggregate and prioritize discovered sequences for empirical validation and testing by our molecular engineering and cloning teams
• Maintain scientific and technical expertise through familiarity with scientific literature, attending conferences, and developing relationships with thought leaders
• Work closely with an entrepreneurial, highly-collaborative, interdisciplinary team and actively contribute to creating, shaping, and executing the scientific and strategic vision of the company

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD in Computational Biology, RNA Biology, Bioinformatics, Viral Ecology, Comparative Genomics, or related field
• Strong expertise in new functional gene discovery from shotgun sequencing datasets, with experience evaluating multiple tools and approaches
• Deep understanding of genomic and transcriptomic assembly methods.
• Extensive experience interfacing with molecular teams to streamline wet lab and computational discovery and functional assay analysis
• Strong programming experience in Python or R
• A strong self-starter, independent thinker, with attention to detail
• Demonstrated industry experience or academic achievement, as evidenced by publications in high impact journals
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, capable of conveying technical information in a clear and thorough manner
• Confident, execution-focused, and team-oriented to thrive in an entrepreneurial environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expertise in viral biology and genomics
• Proficiency in creating reproducible workflows using Nextflow and Docker, and working in cloud computing environments such as Amazon Web Services
• Experience in creating dashboards or other utilities to allow biologists to investigate data independently
• Experience establishing automated pipelines for hybrid assembly and analysis for both long-read (Pac Bio and Nanopore) and short-read (Illumina) NGS sequencing technology
• Industry experience with project management and big data management

Location: Cambridge, MA

More About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies to transform human health and sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, the firm has, through its Flagship Labs unit, applied its unique hypothesis-driven innovation process to originate and foster more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $50B in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $2.2B in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $18B of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 41 transformative companies, including Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Indigo Ag, Kaleido Biosciences (NASDAQ: KLDO), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY), Sana Biotechnology, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), and Sigilon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SGTX).

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.   Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.