Scientist I, Bioinformatics

About Pivot Bio:  

Fueled by an innovative drive and a deep understanding of the soil microbiome, Pivot Bio is pioneering game-changing advances in agriculture. Our commercial products harness the power of naturally-occurring microbes to provide nutrients to crops.  We provide new and sustainable ways for farmers to improve yield as they work to help feed the world’s growing population. Read/Hear more about Pivot Bio on Forbes or PBS News Hour. 

Position: Scientist I, Bioinformatics 

Preferred location:  Berkeley, CA or remote. 

Description: 

Pivot Bio is looking for a Bioinformatics Scientist to support product development by overseeing the development and function of our microbial genomics pipeline. The preferred candidate will have a broad familiarity with utilizing many types of sequencing data and analyses but have a particular focus on microbial genome assembly, annotation, and mutational analysis. The candidate will be responsible for running existing pipelines, preparing summary QC reports, and working with lab scientists to interpret and act on results. Additionally, an ideal candidate will also contribute to improving existing pipelines as well as developing new ones. This role will be located within our Scientific Computing team, an interdisciplinary group of bioinformaticians, software engineers, and data scientists.

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and maintain core bioinformatics pipelines for microbial genomics. 
• Serve as lead analyst for genome sequencing data including de novo assembly, pathway annotation, and mutation discovery/confirmation. 
• Deliver reports to internal customers, analyzing datasets quickly and conclusively to enable rapid decision-making in product development. 
• Stay current with computational tools/sequencing methodologies, identifying gaps and needs in Pivot’s R&D pipeline. 
• Work with bioinformatics team members to contribute to a flexible well-documented bioinformatics code base.  

Required Skills and Experience: 

• PhD in biological sciences with coursework and/or research experience in bioinformatics or BS with 6+ years of relevant experience/MS with 4+ years of relevant experience working with next-gen sequencing data in a microbial genomics context. 
• Proficiency in Unix-like systems, virtual environments, Docker and git. 
• Experience using cloud computing or scientific computing clusters. 
• Expertise writing scripts to munge and analyze data in Python or R. 
• Comfortable using APIs and SQL to query and interact with databases. 
• Experience writing/using bioinformatics pipelines, preferably using a workflow management tool such as Nextflow or Snakemake. 
• Proficient oral and written communication skills.  

Preferred: 

• Experience in agriculture, plant biology and/or microbiology. 
• A solid understanding of bacterial genetics and mutagenesis strategies. 

Must be authorized to work in the United States 

What we offer: 

• Competitive package in a disruptive startup 
• Stock options 
• Health/Dental/Vision insurance with employer-paid premiums 
• Life, Short-Term and Long-Term Disability policies 
• Employee Assistance Program with free referrals and discounts 
• 401(k) plan, 3% Match 
• Commuter benefits 
• Annual Training & Development support 
• Flexible vacation policy with a generous holiday schedule 
• Exciting opportunity to work with a talented and fun team