Scientific Data Engineer

Epoch Biodesign is a well‑funded, venture‑backed start‑up using biology to make every type of plastic recyclable – starting with nylon. Using a unique combination of AI, synthetic biology and green chemistry, we are scaling enzymatic recycling to transform currently unrecyclable plastics and textiles into new, virgin‑quality materials. Our technology yields substantial reductions in carbon emissions with disruptive unit economics, preventing waste from entering landfill or the environment, allowing us to solve this very urgent challenge. With our pilot plant already processing nylon 6,6 waste, we will imminently complete construction on our larger demo facility. This site will produce material destined for use in garments made by some of the world’s biggest fashion, sportswear and luxury brands, and also in components for some of the world’s largest car companies.

The Role

As a Scientific Data Engineer at Epoch you will support and advance Epoch’s computational infrastructure by building, maintaining and improving the data pipelines that underpin our R&D activities. Working closely with computational and lab biologists, you will gather requirements, prototype solutions and develop robust, reproducible pipelines – ensuring that data flows reliably from instrument to insight.

Your core activities will include:

• Managing, maintaining and bug‑fixing our existing sequence analysis pipeline, with a focus on next‑generation sequencing data (Oxford Nanopore experience strongly preferred)
• Managing and extending our analytics data‑processing pipeline, including ingesting data from instrument computers into cloud infrastructure and configuring automated triggers for downstream processing
• Taking computational pipelines built at prototype stage by other team members and transitioning them into robust, reproducible, production‑ready systems using containerised deployments (Docker)
• Acting as primary contact with lab biologists to understand the nature of their data, their analytical methods and their requirements for processing, access and visualisation
• Training colleagues in the use of developed tools and pipelines
• Liaising with our external IT provider to ensure company devices are properly set up, maintained and secured

Essential Qualifications & Experience

• A degree in bioinformatics, computer science, or a similar numerical field
• Strong technical background in Python and common scientific/data libraries (e.g. NumPy, SciPy, Pandas)
• Hands‑on experience with next‑generation sequencing data analysis, with Oxford Nanopore experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS), including cloud‑based pipeline orchestration
• Proficiency with Docker and containerised deployment workflows
• Experience with automated testing practices
• Experience with environment and dependency management tools (e.g. Conda, Mamba)
• Proficiency with Git and version control best practices
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with demonstrable evidence of working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary environment

Beneficial

• Previous start‑up, scale‑up or industry experience
• Experience with additional ‘omics data methods (e.g. mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry)
• Database development and SQL experience
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools (e.g. Snakemake, Nextflow)
• An understanding of cleaning and preprocessing data for machine learning, or hands‑on ML experience
• An understanding of data security issues
• Previous experience working closely with lab biologists
• Experience in project management
• A working understanding of ClaudeCode or similar

Benefits and perks

• A generous allowance of 30 days paid holiday (plus the usual 8 bank holidays)
• Meaningful EMI Share Options
• A non‑contributory pension of 9% employer contribution
• Optional company‑covered private medical insurance with Vitality Group
• Income Protection
• Group Critical Illness
• Flexible working around the core times of 10am to 4pm
• Cycle to work scheme
• The opportunity to be part of building something remarkable

On‑the‑job perks

• Complementary fresh fruit, coffee, tea and snacks
• Onsite gym
• Various staff social activities

And we’re continuously reviewing and enhancing our benefits and work environment.