Lead, Bioinformatics Platform

Overview

The Lead of the Bioinformatics Platform is responsible for providing comprehensive scientific, technical, operational, and financial leadership for bioinformatics and software infrastructure teams. This position coordinates and manages the delivery and ongoing advancement of bioinformatics services, computational workflows, software applications, and data infrastructure that support researchers and core laboratories at KAUST. The role involves strategic and daily leadership of a multidisciplinary team, ensuring the delivery of reliable, scalable, and high-quality services while fostering the development of new capabilities aligned with institutional research goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate bioinformatics, software development, and computational infrastructure teams, managing operational, scientific, and financial aspects.
• Plan projects and allocate resources to balance routine services, infrastructure enhancement, software development, and research activities.
• Guide the development of expertise in genomics, metagenomics, spatial omics, microbiome analysis, structural biology, multi-omics, AI-driven biological data analysis, and sequencing technologies.
• Stay informed on advances in bioinformatics, computational biology, AI, and software engineering, and implement relevant innovations.
• Ensure effective daily delivery of bioinformatics and data analysis services to faculty, researchers, and core labs.
• Provide expert advice on complex bioinformatics and computational analyses.
• Maintain strong collaborations with faculty, researchers, core labs, IT services, research platforms, and external partners.
• Foster new collaborations, secure external funding, and support consulting opportunities.
• Lead the design and enhancement of scalable bioinformatics workflows, pipelines, software tools, and computational services.
• Oversee development and upkeep of web-based bioinformatics platforms, databases, and computational resources.
• Implement comprehensive software and computational asset management strategies.
• Promote FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data management principles.
• Develop and manage standard operating procedures, workflows, and documentation for technical and user guidance.
• Coordinate with IT and Supercomputing Core Lab to manage computational resources effectively.
• Establish and maintain quality control, assurance, validation, reproducibility, and documentation standards.
• Lead financial plans, budget management, cost optimization, and explore avenues for external funding and revenue generation.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop team members fostering an inclusive and positive work environment.
• Drive innovation in bioinformatics methodologies, software, and AI-powered techniques.
• Contribute actively to training programs, workshops, publications, and grant applications.
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned within the scope of the role.

Required Competencies

• Proven leadership and people management skills for multidisciplinary teams, effective prioritization, and decision-making.
• Strong domain expertise in bioinformatics, computational biology, data science, or scientific software development.
• Solid understanding of genomics and sequencing technologies; experience in multi-omics, spatial omics, metagenomics, microbiome analysis, structural biology, or AI/ML is advantageous.
• Proficient in programming languages such as Python, R, C/C++, or Java, alongside strong command-line and Linux skills.
• Excellent scientific and technical problem-solving capabilities.
• Robust project management and organizational competencies.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• High sense of ownership, accountability, and reliability.

Educational Qualifications

A PhD degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, data science, software engineering, or a closely related discipline is required.

Experience Requirements

• Between 5 to 8 years of relevant professional experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, data science, scientific software development, or related fields.
• Experience managing or leading multidisciplinary technical or scientific teams.
• Track record of developing and sustaining bioinformatics workflows, software tools, computational infrastructure, and data analysis services.
• Experience handling large-scale biological datasets and modern sequencing technologies.
• Extensive familiarity with HPC and Linux-based computational environments.
• Competence in financial planning, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Preferred background in research or core facility settings with multidisciplinary collaborations.
• Essential experience working in international, multicultural, and diverse scientific environments.
• Demonstrated impact through scientific publications, software/tools development, or technical contributions is desirable.