Junior Bioinformatician in Cambridge

£30,250 – £36,600 plus

Reports to: Group Leader (Quantitative Biology)

Directorate: Research & Innovation

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge (Low Flex - 3 days per week in office)

Closing date: Sunday 15th February 23:55pm

Recruitment process: Screening call followed by Competency-based interview on site in Cambridge.

Interview date: Approximately week commencing 23rd February

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer. We are seeking a motivated and detail‑driven Junior Bioinformatician to join our growing Bioinformatics team and contribute to key stages of the drug‑discovery pipeline. Working on‑site at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, you will support projects ranging from target identification and disease positioning through to biomarker discovery.

In this role, you will integrate and interpret functional‑genomics datasets, biological‑pathway information, and other multi‑omics data to help address critical biological questions aligned with Alliance priorities. Your insights will directly inform scientific decision‑making and accelerate the discovery of novel therapeutic opportunities.

About Cancer Research Horizons

As the world’s biggest medical research charity, we’ve helped bring eleven new cancer drugs to market. However, there is still an urgent need to bring more effective treatments to patients faster. We have recently developed a new approach to driving therapeutic innovation through the creation of Cancer Research Horizons (CRH). We have brought together Cancer Research UK’s established drug discovery teams under one organisation and leadership team, combining our unique pipeline of cancer biology expertise and access to CRUK’s world-class academic network, cutting edge technology platforms and clinical expertise to 1) Bring new treatments to patients faster and 2) Tackle the biggest challenges in discovering cancer drugs by seeking out more radical ideas and embracing risk in our bid to achieve success.

Based at sites in Cambridge, the CRUK Scotland Institute in Glasgow, and Newcastle University, you’ll be joining over 200 staff from both industrial and academic backgrounds, all dedicated to bringing forward the day we cure cancer.

• Analysing and interpreting diverse clinical datasets, from multi-omics data to imaging and health records
• Work with domain experts and project teams to support day-to-day lab work
• Integrate and interpret functional genomics and biological pathway data from in-house and public sources to identify and validate novel oncology targets and inform disease positioning
• Run and support custom analysis pipelines for the analysis and interpretation of functional genomics data
• Apply best practices in data capture, transformation, analysis and visualisation
• Provide critical assessment of current data sources, processes and analysis tools
• Communicate effectively, with openness and respect for the opinions of others
• Prioritise work according to project and team objectives
• Maintain accurate and up to date records
• Maintain safe and effective working practices

Qualifications:

• BSc, MSc or PhD in Bioinformatics, Biological Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or equivalent
• Some experience analysing data from high-throughput genome-wide experiments and interpretation of the results in a functional-genomics framework
• Experience of working with statistical packages (R strongly preferred), scripting languages (Python strongly preferred), and reporting/visualisation tools (e.g. Shiny)
• An understanding of good experimental design and the application of statistical methodologies for the interpretation of experimental data
• Experience applying bioinformatics techniques to identify novel drug targets
• Excellent communication skills, able to convey complex information clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences
• Collaborative mindset, with the confidence and initiative to work independently when required
• Commitment to continued development, proactively enhancing skills and staying up to date with emerging practices

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

• Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
• Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
• Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
• Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience, we’d still love to hear from you. We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our website.

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.

For more information on this career opportunity please contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.