Yeast Computational Biologist, Design Team

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Job description

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. Today, our foundry is developing over 40 different organisms to make different products across multiple industries.As a Yeast Computational Biologist, you'll support Ginkgo's organism engineering programs by designing and analyzing high-throughput experiments in model, industrial, and other yeast species. Plus, you'll help to expand Ginkgo's genetic engineering platform with the development of novel computational tools. By adding your own expertise to an interdisciplinary team of bench scientists, computational biologists, data scientists, and software engineers, your role will be critical to developing world-changing methods for engineering yeasts.Please note: we recognize that not all candidates may meet the entire list of Desired Experience and Capabilities below. We're eager to train the right candidates for this role, and encourage those who meet at least two thirds of the criteria to apply.Responsibilities Support Ginkgo's organism engineering teams with your technical expertise in yeast genetics, designing megabases of DNA for each projectDesign high-throughput experiments that leverage Ginkgo's Foundries, with the aims of solving difficult biological problems and uncovering new design principles for gene expression, pathway balancing, and moreCollaborate with stakeholders throughout Ginkgo to create next-generation synthetic biology tools e.g. algorithms, data structures, predictive models, software pipelines, or experimental approaches that yield step changes in our ability to engineer industrial & non-model yeastsTroubleshoot technically complex design problems, and propose solutions or experimental plans to resolve or correct for themMaintain high-quality documentation of your work and discoveries, in the forms of written reports, technical presentations, electronic lab notebooks, internal database records, code comments, and software documentationDesired Experience and Capabilities PhD or equivalent experience in genetics, genomics, systems biology, biochemistry, computational biology, quantitative biology, or another relevant field. Interdisciplinary work is strongly encouraged2+ years of professional experience (grad school counts) engineering one or more hemiascomycetous yeasts. Additional organisms are a bonus, but not required. Wet lab experience is a plus.Facility with programming in at least one language (Python preferred). Experience with best practices for collaborative software development (version control systems, test-driven development, good documentation habits) are strongly preferredFirst-hand technical experience in at least two of the following disciplines: bioinformatics, sequence analysis, comparative genomics, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis, statistics, probabilistic modeling, machine learning, metabolic engineering, or quantitative modeling of biological systemsDemonstrated ability to meet the demands of multiple concurrent projects, and work efficiently in a fast-paced, high-growth environmentStrong curiosity for, and comfort working in, areas of biology previously unknown to you (and, at times, unknown to your peers)To learn more about Ginkgo, check out some recent press:What is it really like to take your company public via a SPAC? One Boston biotech shares its journey (Fortune)Ginkgo Bioworks resizes the definition of going big in biotech, raising $2.5B in a record SPAC deal that weighs in with a whopping $15B-plus valuation (Endpoints News)Ginkgo Bioworks CEO on scaling up Covid-19 testing: 'If we try, we can win' (CNBC)Ginkgo raises $70 million to ramp up COVID-19 testing for employers, universities (Boston Globe)Ginkgo Bioworks Redirects Its Biotech Platform to Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal)Ginkgo Bioworks Provides Support on Process Optimization to Moderna for COVID-19 Response (PRNewswire)The Life Factory: Synthetic Organisms From This $1.4 Billion Startup Will Revolutionize Manufacturing (Forbes)Synthetic Bio Pioneer Ginkgo Raises $290 Million in New Funding (Bloomberg)Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts (Reuters)Can This Company Convince You to Love GMOs? (The Atlantic)We also feel that it's important to point out the obvious here there's a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.We're developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can and will impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it's something we'll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it's critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.Apply for this job