Mullins Molecular Retrovirology Lab

  • Department of Microbiology
  • School of Medicine
  • University of Washington
University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research

Hiring a Scientific Programmer/Senior Computer Specialist

The Mullins Lab in the Department of Microbiology currently has an outstanding opportunity for a Senior Computer Specialist to develop and maintain scientific computational resources. This position is important to the daily functioning of our lab. The candidate will work closely with existing staff and scientists as well as other research groups to ensure the computational resources of the lab run smoothly and meet the needs of researchers.

Interested? Apply online through UW Human Resources.

Duties and Responsibilities:

(75%) Collaborate with existing lead staff to develop and maintain scientific computational resources, including databases, locally-developed applications, third-party software, and computational infrastructure. Working with current technology and best practices from software engineering, the candidate will be expected to:

  • Develop and maintain several web-based laboratory data platforms, including Viroverse, TCozy, and ISDB
  • Create coherent and integrated software systems and databases for biological problems in the development of HIV treatment and vaccines
  • Interview lab members and collaborators to inform new laboratory platform functionality
  • Develop tools and utilities to provide a unified environment for broad computational tasks
  • Investigate, procure, and configure bioinformatics software for integration with existing workflows and resources
  • Plan, implement, and maintain physical and virtual server infrastructure to meet research needs of the lab
  • Rapidly acquire domain knowledge when necessary to communicate with users and collaborators and understand project requirements

(15%) Transfer computing expertise and programming skills to lab members through consultation and mentorship

(10%) Support and maintain lab member desktop computers and desktops enabling instrument use; assist with other computing-related tasks as needed

Minimum Requirements

B.S in Computer Science or related preferred or a combination of related work experience and education

We expect a successful applicant to have a minimum of 3 years professional experience with all of the following tools and techniques:

  • A high-level programming language, such as Java, Python, Ruby, Perl, or JavaScript
  • A relational database system, such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server
  • Software version control, such as Git, Mercurial, or Subversion
  • Data analysis using programmable (R, Python, SAS…) or graphical (Excel, GraphPad Prism…) tools
  • Interactive web development using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Desired

We expect an applicant will be more successful if they also have:

  • A history of working on large, pre-existing code bases
  • Comfort working in multiple programming languages
  • Experience managing and debugging a full-stack environment
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Excellent attention to detail
  • Background in bioinformatics, especially nucleic acid sequence analysis