FAIR Data Lead

Company Description

Location: UK (Jealotts Hill) or Switzerland (Basel)

We are open to Hybrid or Remote working arrangements for this role.

About Syngenta:

Syngenta is a leading agrochemicals company, dedicated to bringing plant potential to life. Each of our 30,000 employees in more than 100 countries work together to solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: growing more food with fewer resources. A diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace environment are enablers of our ambition to be the most collaborative and trusted team in agriculture.

Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. Join us now and help shape the future of agriculture.

Job Description

Role Purpose:

In Crop Protection R&D, we design and evolve cutting-edge data capabilities to allow us to access, connect, share and harness our R&D data at an unprecedented scale and pace. We cover a wide spectrum of data from Research (chemistry and biology research data) to open field IoT (environmental sensors, drones), NLP and image analysis. We believe in FAIR, shared and connected data products, empowered and data-savvy people, agile delivery and open source.

We are looking for a FAIR data lead with deep expertise in R&D data and processes, coupled with outstanding interpersonal skills to play a key role in CR R&D-wide data transformation efforts, such as the creation and management of ontologies, data extraction, document annotation and searching, creation of knowledge graphs, data catalogues, and data platforms for analytics and innovation.

Key accountabilities and expectations

• Enable effective extraction/curation, access, preparation, and provision of FAIR data within and across R&D functions to drive analytics and support project, scientific and business decisions
• Work in close collaboration with R&D data experts and R&D IT to understand data usage requirements, profile data and assess data quality, maturity and complexity
• Design data FAIR-ification pipelines and processes, as well as text and data mining pipelines
• Provide integrated datasets / data products for further exploration and use
• Understand and document data landscape, data flows, data architecture and data models (current and future ones) in CP R&D systems in collaboration with IT leads
• Educate and promote best practice and processes for FAIR data access, management, curation and mining in R&D

Qualifications

Essential skills and experience

• MSc in STEM or data-related sciences and engineering
• Ideally 7-10 years of experience working in data and informatics in life-sciences R&D organisations
• Excellent knowledge of data architecture and modelling principles and FAIR concepts, such as modern database systems (relational and not), data flows, data platforms, ontologies, knowledge graphs, document annotation, etc.
• Excellent knowledge of tools and scripting for text and data mining, navigation and wrangling (e.g. SQL, Python/R data science libraries, KNIME, etc.) in HPC and cloud environments
• Working knowledge of visual analytics tools (e.g. Spotfire, Qlik, Dash/Plotly) 
• Deep technical understanding of R&D concepts and how scientific data is produced, harmonised and used.
• Knowledge of scrum, agile and product management principles and methodology

Desired skills and experience

• PhD in STEM
• Advanced technical knowledge of FAIR data management and integration including data curation, master and reference data and their application in scientific R&D
• Proven experience with complex scientific data and informatics, such as omics, chemo- and bioinformatics or associated processes, such as scientific text mining and document annotation
• Understanding of relevant public domain scientific dictionaries, standards and ontologies and their application for interoperability and reusability of data, especially in Ag science

Essential personal capabilities

• Capacity to explain complex information and data as simple comprehensible messages.
• Experience as a data leader preferably in a multinational science-based company (e.g. chemical, pharma R&D) dealing with complex scientific data and systems
• Superb team building and communication skills
• Highly organised and structured in planning and execution of responsibilities
• Independence and ownership of area of responsibility with a drive to implement effective solutions
• Ability to build networks across regions, cultures and countries.

Additional Information

In return for your skills and knowledge Syngenta will offer:

• Competitive benefits package including opportunities for flexible working.
• Up to 31.5 days annual holiday.
• Interaction with external researchers and opportunities to represent Syngenta in research networks, collaborations and conferences.
• Good onsite facilities including a staff restaurant, a gym and fitness classes.
• Campus environment based at Jealott’s Hill located in the Berkshire countryside between Bracknell and Maidenhead.
• Great opportunities for personal and career development.
• A modern, stimulating and dynamic working environment which promotes diversity and inclusion, scientific excellence and collaboration.
• A job and responsibilities with purpose at state-of-the-art facilities within a world class R&D campus site.
• Learning culture and a wide range of development options, including access to learning platforms (Degreed, LinkedIn Learning, O’Reilly)
• High quality office environment
• Syngenta has been ranked as a top employer by Science Journal.

We embrace and encourage diversity, and this is what drives our innovation and lets us outperform the market. https://www.syngenta.com/careers/working-syngenta/diversity-and-inclusion

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