Senior Genomic Data Scientist - 2 Year FTC, Adult Population Genomics Programme (we have office[...]

Company Description

Genomics England partners with the NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. We also equip researchers to find the causes of disease and develop new treatments – with patients and participants at the heart of it all.

Our mission is to continue refining, scaling, and evolving our ability to enable others to deliver genomic healthcare and conduct genomic research.

We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.

Job Description

We are hiring a Senior Genomic Data Scientist to join our newly established Adult Population Genomics Programme (APGP). This exciting initiative will sequence the genomes of 150,000 adults to better understand how genomics can support preventative healthcare, improve early disease detection, and enable more personalised and proactive interventions.

A key element of the programme is the integration of pharmacogenomics, recognising its potential to support safer and more effective use of medicines across the population.

The Senior Genomic Data Scientist will lead the programme’s pharmacogenomics‑focused analytical work. This includes evaluating technologies, benchmarking tools, and developing, validating, and implementing analysis workflows for the detection and reporting of pharmacogenomic variants.

The person in this role will shape the analytical strategy and generate impactful insights from large‑scale genomic and health data, helping the programme realise its potential for population‑level precision medicine.

This role is based on a 2‑year fixed‑term contract.

Everyday responsibilities include

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• Contribute to study design and planning, in particular from statistics and evaluation perspective (e.g. power calculations, sample size calculations, outcomes modelling).
  
• Assess and benchmark technologies and bioinformatics tools for processing and analysis of whole genome data (e.g. alignment, variant callers, quality control), relevant genome to pharmacogenomics and disease risk prediction in adults.
  
• Collaborate with Bioinformatic Engineers in development of data‑processing pipelines, including setting up the requirements, validation, testing, and impact assessment.
  
• Conduct custom computational analyses on whole genome sequencing datasets.
  
• Research the scientific literature, identify new approaches to genome analysis, as well as contribute to the publication and dissemination of our learnings in the form of scientific papers, white papers and conferences.
  

Skills and experience for success

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• Demonstrated experience in human germline DNA analysis in pharmacogenomics context, ideally with additional expertise in other areas such as rare disease genomics, polygenic risk prediction, population genetics, or complex genomic regions (e.g., HLA / KIR).
  
• Deep understanding and hands‑on experience of a broad range of bioinformatic techniques and approaches, especially related to whole genome sequencing, complex loci, haplotypes, and the tools and databases used for pharmacogenomics and human genome variant interpretation.
  
• Proficiency in programming, including working knowledge of Python, and statistics, with experience in cloud‑scale or high‑performance computing, and understanding of experimental design, sample size, and power calculations.
  
• Proven experience contributing to genomic research or analysis projects, from planning to delivery, with outputs such as publications, presentations, or large‑scale initiative contributions.
  
• Collaborative, curious, and innovative, able to communicate complex concepts clearly, work effectively across teams, and apply automation approaches to enhance analytical workflows.
  

Desirable skills

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• Experience leading and driving projects which require collaboration – chairing meetings, communicating complexity to non‑technical stakeholders and focusing on the decisions needed to unlock value for study participants.
  
• Ability to inspire and motivate other members of the team, deliver to deadlines, and focus on delivery‑oriented data‑driven strategic decisions.
  
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills.
  
• Prior experience of working in highly collaborative, cross‑disciplinary environments.
  

Qualifications

PhD with postdoctoral, or equivalent, experience, in at least one of the following: Genetics / Genomic with a strong computational component, Statistical genetics, Genetic epidemiology or Bioinformatics with the focus on human genomics.

Additional Information
Salary from: £62,000

Please provide a cover letter explaining how your skills and experience align with this role and its requirements.

Closing date for applications – Friday 9th January 2026
Benefits

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• Generous Leave: 30 days holiday plus bank holidays, additional leave for long service, and the option to apply for up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (approval required).
  
• Family‑Friendly: Blended working arrangements, flexible working, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave benefits.
  
• Pension & Financial: Defined contribution pension (Genomics England double‑matches up to 10%, however you can contribute more if you wish), Life Assurance (3x salary), and a Give As You Earn scheme.
  
• Learning & Development: Individual learning budgets, support for training and certifications, and reimbursement for one annual professional subscription (approval required).
  
• Recognition & Rewards: Employee recognition programme and referral scheme.
  
• Health & Wellbeing: Subsidised gym membership, a free Headspace account, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme, eye tests, flu jabs.
  

Equal opportunities and our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace

Genomics England is actively committed to providing and supporting an inclusive environment that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion best practice both within our community and in any other area where we have influence. We are proud of our diverse community where everyone can come to work and feel welcomed and treated with respect regardless of any disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, or social background.

Genomics England’s policies of non‑discrimination and equity

Genomics England’s policies of non‑discrimination and equity will be applied fairly to all people, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, being pregnant or recently becoming a parent, race, religion or beliefs, sex or sexual orientation, length of service, whether full or part‑time or employed under a permanent or a fixed‑term contract or any other relevant factor.

We aim to remove barriers in our recruitment processes and to be flexible with our interview processes. Should you require any adjustments that may help you to fully participate in the recruitment process, we encourage you to discuss this with us.
Culture

We have four key behaviours that represent what we would like Genomics England to feel like and the culture we want to encourage, in order for us to achieve our mission. These behaviours help us all work well together, deliver on our outcomes, celebrate our successes and share feedback with each other. You can read about these and other aspects of our culture here.