Caltech · 3 months ago
Bioinformatics Support Specialist
Pasadena, CA
Full-time
Onsite
New Grad, Entry Level
$19/hr - $25.75/hrCaltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. The Bioinformatics Support Specialist will assist graduate students, postdocs, and research staff with bioinformatics and computational components of ongoing projects, contribute to manuscript preparation, and help develop and maintain data processing pipelines.
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Responsibilities
Assist graduate students, postdocs, and research staff with bioinformatics/computational components of all ongoing projects
Contribute to manuscript preparation and grant proposals, data visualization, and scientific presentations
A highly motivated and qualified candidate may additionally develop their own independent aspects of ongoing projects
Learn and apply state-of-the-art statistical and computational methods for analyzing datasets from shotgun metagenomics, amplicon sequencing, and RNA-sequencing experiments
Assist in the design, implementation, and benchmarking of in-silico experiments
Generate computational results and publication-quality figures for clear communication of results to lab members and external collaborators
Collaborate with lab members and external colleagues to learn and implement best practice methods and packages for data analysis and processing in the lab
Work with lab members to understand needed bioinformatic capabilities and develop tools to accomplish them
Work with lab members and external collaborators to help them develop, execute, and maintain state-of-the-art data processing pipelines on Caltech high-performance computing (HPC) clusters
Develop and maintain scripts for routine analysis tasks such as qPCR quantification
Develop and maintain scripts for automated robotic platforms to perform laboratory procedures
Help lab members test and integrate LLM-based AI tools to improve efficiency of research tasks such as experimental design and technical writing
Maintain well-organized computational workspaces, including data storage, version-control systems, containerization, and documentation in a neat, detailed electronic lab notebook
Maintain reference databases of microbial genomes, gene clusters, antimicrobial resistance markers, and metabolic pathways
Maintain organized and version-controlled repositories and containerized computational environments (Docker/Conda), using Python and/or R
Assist with data management on remote computing clusters and back-up servers, including organizing raw and processed data, maintaining version control, and ensuring data integrity and reproducibility
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in science with educational emphasis in computational sciences, bioinformatics, biology, microbiology, computer science, bioinformatics, computational biology, data science, or a related field required at time of application
Experience with programming languages for scripting and data analysis: Python, R, and Bash required
Familiarity with basic molecular biology topics
Experience (including coursework or internships) in data analysis using at least one scripting or programming language (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R)
Experience working with next generation sequencing data and/or big data (e.g. genomics, RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.)
Experience working in Linux/Unix environments
Strong drive to learn and to make positive impacts on the lab and lab's mission
Ability and desire to collaborate and support collaborative projects
Highly detail-oriented; must have examples of well-documented code (e.g., Git repositories) involving complex technical tasks or data analyses available upon request
Ability to rapidly learn technical skills, particularly in computational methods and bioinformatic workflows
Strong organizational, time-management, and project-management skills; ability to professionally and continuously communicate priorities, workload, and current progress to all lab members
Must be able to use sound judgment to handle multiple simultaneous tasks, prioritize effectively, and troubleshoot problems independently
Must be able to work independently as well as part of a collaborative team in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
Ability to write clean, well-documented, and reproducible code for data processing and analysis
Ambition to develop research skills and advance scientific understanding through high-quality computational analyses and interpretation of biological data
Preferred
Experience with cloud computing environments (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, or institutional equivalents) and using High-Performance Computing (HPC) clusters with the Slurm workload manager
Experience performing bioinformatic analyses involving shotgun metagenomics, RNA sequencing, or 16S rRNA gene sequencing
Experience with workflow management systems for pipeline automation (e.g., Snakemake, Nextflow)
Proficiency with Git for collaborative coding, project tracking, and version control
Experience performing statistical analyses or modeling of complex biological datasets
Experience with containerization (Docker, Conda, Singularity)
Experience creating visualizations or interactive notebooks (e.g., Jupyter, R Markdown, Dash)
Experience fine-tuning LLMs for analysis or writing tasks
Co-authorship on a scientific publication
Solid understanding of statistical analysis methods (NHST, probability distributions, etc.)
Ambition to pursue advanced training or career in computational biology, bioinformatics, ambition to enter a top medical or graduate school or a similar high-performance, high-impact environment in industry or academia
Benefits
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Retirement savings plans
Generous paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, bereavement, etc.)
Tuition reimbursement
Onsite counseling
Sick time
Company
Caltech
Caltech is a science and engineering research and education institution.
Founded in 1891
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Caltech has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (156)
2024 (95)
2023 (105)
2022 (83)
2021 (30)
2020 (22)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$86.51MKey Investors
US Department of EnergyAlfred P. Sloan Foundation
2024-07-17Grant· $10M
2019-09-27Grant· $75M
2019-01-01Grant· $1.51M
Leadership Team
Frances Arnold
Linus Pauling Professor
John Preskill
Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics
Recent News
2025-12-17
PhysOrg.com
2025-12-03
Company data provided by crunchbase