Principal Computational Microbiologist - Synthetic Biology

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 1,800 employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross-fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation. For more information about Draper, visit www.draper.com.

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Equal Employment Opportunity

Draper is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. We understand the value of diversity and its impact on a high-performance culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.

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Draper has an immediate opening for an experienced Computational Microbiologist who thrives in a multidisciplinary environment and enjoys solving unique, challenging problems with synthetic biology methods. We are seeking a scientist who is well versed in bacterial genomics, metagenomics, and bacterial gene regulation mechanisms. This position bridges synthetic biology and bioinformatics disciplines, so familiarity with identification and construction of biosynthetic pathways will also be beneficial. While the hands-on requirements of this position are primarily computational, the ideal candidate will have sufficient bench experience, organizational skills, and leadership ability to head a team of microbiologists in planning and executing laboratory experiments. A successful candidate will have excellent communication and organizational skills to enable them to thrive in Draper's fast-paced, collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

Beyond this immediate need, Draper's matrixed environment provides opportunities for employees to take on projects for a broad range of applications, including biological detection/diagnostics and applied synthetic biology, in support of both commercial and US government national security entities. The selected candidate will join a diverse team of scientists and engineers from varied disciplines, and must thrive on collaborative ideation and project execution. We offer an atmosphere that fosters innovation, a supportive team environment, intellectual freedom and creativity, and an emphasis on career development.

Required Qualifications:

• Research experience commensurate with a Ph.D. plus postdoctoral work (7-10 years total post-baccalaureate experience) in Microbiology, Computational Biology, or a related field.

• 2+ years bacterial genomics and metagenomics experience
• 2+ years microbiology bench experience

• Ability to independently manage bioinformatics toolsets and execute analysis pipelines from data ingestion to biological interpretation using common open source software.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

• Mammalian genomics and transcriptomics experience
• Biosynthetic pathway analysis and construction
• Experience applying artificial intelligence/machine learning methods to biological challenges
• Interest in collaborating with engineers and scientists at the interface between life sciences and engineering
• Interest in writing proposals/grants and participating in the formation of new programs

Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance. The primary requirement for this is US citizenship.