Molecular Biologist/Bioinformatician (ID4804)

Do you want a role safeguarding standards of animal and plant health and welfare? 

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government. Our diverse teams of over 3,000 skilled and committed professionals come together to provide research, advice and support to UK Government for safeguarding animal, public and plant health for benefit of the environment and economy.

The Science Directorate (SD) delivers high quality, high impact and highly relevant multidisciplinary science. Our people are diverse, talented, engaged and inspired to deliver innovative outcomes.

We are recruiting a bioinformatician/molecular biologist in the Antimicrobial Resistance and Enteric Pathogens team of the Department of Bacteriology. You will provide scientific expertise and leadership by collaboration with other departments, deliver work under research projects and surveillance contracts involving the investigation of bacteria of significance to food safety and public health. You will also contribute your expertise to expand the capability of molecular identification and characterisation of these bacteria at APHA.

• Developing and applying molecular biology methods and bioinformatics techniques to support research and surveillance activities funded by VMD/Defra as well as other projects at APHA, including developing new research areas, applications and methodologies.
• Undertake a range of laboratory-based phenotypic and genomic workflows, including microbial susceptibility testing, DNA extraction from isolate and metagenomic samples, and preparation of samples for short- and long-read sequencing.
• Lead scientific research using next generation sequencing and bioinformatics approaches to characterize antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within livestock and the farm environment.
• Apply bioinformatics tools to investigate AMR and virulence genes, their genetic context and association with mobile genetic elements, as well as conducting comparative genomic, pan-genome and phylogenetic analyses of large microbial datasets (~1000 isolates).
• You are likely to have project or work package management responsibilities and will be required to meet targets for delivery of work, project milestones, and publications. They will be required to liaise closely with line managers/project leaders to help meet these deadlines.
• Lead dissemination of research results through peer-reviewed scientific publications and presentations.
• Develop and manage junior scientists, especially in technical aspects, as part of a matrix management system to enable delivery of project work, and undertaking advisory, training, and reporting duties associated with line management of staff and students (e.g. MSc and PhD), with potential to assume formal line management responsibilities as required.
• Liaise/collaborate with researchers within the agency and at external organisations, nationally and internationally (e.g. collaborating institutes, Public Sector Research Establishments and Universities).
• You will help maintain a safe working environment and implementing safety regulations and quality systems within the laboratory including maintenance of ISO9001:2015
• Contribute to ideas and in drafting of concept notes, research, and other proposals.
• You will liaise with co-workers to ensure maintenance of an emergency response capability for molecular characterisation of isolates from a wide range of animals including livestock, found in different environments (e.g. farm premises and hatcheries).

You will need to demonstrate the following:

• Strong scientific background in a discipline related to the advertised post.
• Working knowledge of molecular microbiology and bioinformatics
• Working knowledge/experience of short or long read sequencing technologies and demonstrable experience in processing sequencing datasets within a UNIX environment using coding language (e.g. python, perl, R, bash)
• Knowledge of working to ISO9001 and/or ISO17025 quality systems.
• Good written and oral communication skills, including writing scientific papers, and publishing and presenting own work.

Security clearance

The Weybridge site is a strategically important national asset due to its role as a reference laboratory supporting the Governments response to national emergencies including disease outbreaks. For this reason, all postholders based on the APHA Weybridge site must hold a valid Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance or above. It is up to each person applying for a post at APHA Weybridge to ensure they meet the residency criteria. Applicants must be currently resident in the UK & have at least three years continuous UK residency as this is a requirement to work at the Weybridge site where the team and work is situated.

Ways of Working

Periodic travel within the UK and EU may be required and this could include farm or abattoir visits as part of ongoing research. The successful candidate may have to ensure that no contact is made with farmed animals for a period of 1-2 days or more before visiting livestock farms. This may preclude anyone who lives on a livestock farm.

Out of hours work may be required. When overtime or out-of-hours work is required, APHA Management reserves the right to change overtime patterns to meet requirements. You may be eligible for overtime payments and where overtime is approved you will receive appropriate payment.

Health clearance

The post will also require Health clearance. You will be expected to complete a questionnaire on your general health and have any necessary vaccinations or health surveillance, including skin sensitisers. This will be arranged by the Health Team, Weybridge. It may also be necessary to undergo a pre-employment medical assessment