Computational Biologist

About us

At the forefront of farming and food, UPSIDE Foods is innovating new ways to produce real meat, without the need to breed, feed and slaughter animals. Our process begins with an animal cell, which is cultivated and harvested as meat. UPSIDE Foods is a mission-driven company focused on bringing to meat lovers an authentic product that is truly humane, sustainably produced, nutritious and delicious! We are now expanding our team of dedicated professionals across disciplines to make better meat for a better world.

About this job

Want to apply your computational biology talents to the challenge of producing cruelty-free meat?  Come join UPSIDE Foods as a computational biologist  in our Data team.  You will design and analyze DNA and RNA sequencing experiments and use machine learning methods to predict cell lines that will make the most delicious meat.  Working directly with scientists, analysts and lab technicians, you will deepen our understanding and generate actionable insights to improve the yield, texture, and taste of cultivated meat.  This is a scientist position requiring primary source research in academic publications and regular presentations to the R&D teams. Your passion for great code and broad knowledge of tools will be equally important as your excellent communication skills as you work with our team of exceptionally talented people.

Responsibilities include…

• Generating insights
• Presenting to a scientific audience
• Building Bioinformatics and analysis pipelines
• Building visualization tools

About you…

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Biomedical Engineering, Biology, or a related field.
• 2+ years of relevant work experience in a research setting.
• Experience building and using bioinformatics tools including genome browsers, genome assemblers, sequence aligners, differential gene analysis packages, and bioinformatics packages.
• Strong data-driven communication and presentation skills.

Technical

• Proficient in Python, R, C++ and libraries and packages relevant to bioinformatics analysis. 
• Proficient in bash scripting and linux operating system command-line tools.
• Hands-on experience in many standard bioinformatics tasks such as sequence alignment, genome assembly, rna-seq, chIP-seq, and ATAC-seq analysis, genomic interval analysis, GWAS, proteomics
• Familiarity with pipelining tools such as NextFlow and their use on high performance computing clusters.
• Familiarity with statistical learning and machine learning methods and model validation and evaluation.

Nice to have

• Metabolic engineering and pathway analysis experience
• Familiarity with LIMS software and related systems

Who you’ll work with…

• This role will work closely with discovery team scientists, upstream cell line development scientists, genetic engineers, and media development scientists.
• While we expect growth in all functions in the next 1-2 years, this role will most frequently interact with our R&D and Tech Ops teams.

Key Contributions in First Year…

• Design and analyze single-cell RNA-sequencing experiments to inform cell line development and genetic engineering and generate actionable insights.
• Bring up Bioinformatics tools and pipelines such as genome browsers and other command-line tools.
• Generate actionable insights with data-driven scientific communication.
• Develop machine learning or statistical methods to extract insights from large screening experiments.
• Work closely with scientists across different functions and disciplines to rapidly iterate through the cycle of experimental design, hypothesis testing, data collection, and interpretation.
• Assist with experimental design, for example through modeling or simulations.

UPSIDE Benefits!

• Stock options for all full-time incoming team members!
• 90-100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for team members (medical [including HSA and FSA], dental, and vision)
• Pet insurance for your furry family members!
• Unlimited PTO
• DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Council and People Engagement Programs
• Company-sponsored learning & development opportunities

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.