Group Leader Clinical Bioinformatics
80%-100%, Basel, permanent
The ETH Zurich technology platform NEXUS Personalized Health enables discovery and translational research for personalized health. We offer a broad range of expertise across Clinical Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Software Engineering, Systems Operations, and Screening & Lab Automation.
Embedded in this multi-disciplinary environment, the Clinical Bioinformatics group translates computational biology into clinically usable outcomes, working diligently across the boundary between biomedical research and clinical practice. Our work includes project-tailored analyses and integration of high-dimensional molecular data, spanning whole-genome variant calling and decision support to single-cell sequencing analysis. We develop and extend robust analysis workflows and reusable components, in close collaboration with academic institutions and hospitals.
Job Description
As Group Leader Clinical Bioinformatics, you will lead a team of bioinformatics analysts and software engineers. Your responsibility will be to ensure that analyses and workflows are reproducible, scalable, and suitable for translational and clinical contexts. You will drive innovation by continuously evaluating emerging technologies and analytical approaches, integrating cutting-edge methods into clinical and translational research. A key aspect of your role will involve securing, prioritizing, and strategically managing clinical and translational projects through active stakeholder engagement.
- Project management: Structure and oversee projects end-to-end, ensuring clear scope definition, milestone planning, risk management, documentation standards, and processes aligned with translational and clinical quality requirements.
- Technical leadership: Drive the development and extension of pipelines using Nextflow and Snakemake. Set standards for workflow engineering, testing, documentation, and long-term maintainability.
- Delivery ownership: Take responsibility for timelines, quality, and stakeholder alignment across multiple projects with variable scope.
- Project acquisition and customer management: Build relationships with researchers, clinicians, and partners; shape projects; and translate needs into clear deliverables and expectations.
- Clinical reporting and decision support: Convert complex, multimodal, and large-scale results into clear outputs for physicians, including dashboards and web-based reporting for decision support.
- Clinician partnership: Listen closely, clarify what is useful, and keep the interface simple while your team handles technical complexity.
- Innovation and scientific advancement: Stay at the forefront of developments in bioinformatics, AI, and data-driven medicine, evaluate emerging methods and technologies, and translate promising approaches into robust, clinically applicable solutions.
- Cross-team collaboration: Work closely with the Software Engineering, Systems Operations, Biostatistics, and Screening & Lab Automation groups to deliver integrated solutions end-to-end.
- People leadership: Recruit, mentor, and develop team members, fostering knowledge exchange and high standards.
- Resource management: Plan capacity, prioritize work, and contribute to budgeting and reporting for the group.
Quick Self-Check
You will thrive in this role if...
- You enjoy owning projects end-to-end, from shaping the initial question with clinicians and partners to delivering robust, reusable solutions with clear outcomes.
- You like working across disciplines and building close collaborations with clinicians and cross-functional partners, rather than working in isolation.
- You are comfortable setting direction, making prioritization calls, and being accountable for timelines and quality.
- You enjoy building workflows that others rely on and continuously improving them to enhance reproducibility, scalability, and impact.
- You can distill complex, multimodal data into decision-support outputs that are clear, usable, and aligned with the needs of physicians, avoiding overwhelming them with technical detail.
- You uphold high standards for workflow engineering, testing, documentation, and Git-based collaboration, and you relish the opportunity to lead your team in achieving these standards together.
Profile
Non-Negotiables:
- Proven leadership experience in clinical bioinformatics, genomics, or translational research delivery.
- Hands-on experience developing and extending analysis pipelines and reusable components.
- Proficiency in workflow management with Nextflow and/or Snakemake, with the ability to set team standards.
- Daily practice of Git version control is essential.
- Strong clinician-facing communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Excellent communication skills in English.
Strongly Expected:
- Solid programming skills in Python or R and a commitment to high code quality practices (reviews, testing, documentation).
- A track record across various data types, from variant calling and expression analyses to single-cell sequencing analysis.
- Experience with quality control and reporting in genomics/transcriptomics.
Advantageous:
- Experience in statistics or software engineering practices beyond scripting.
- Familiarity with HPC usage and Bash scripting.
- Knowledge of German.
Workplace
At NEXUS, we value knowledge exchange and teamwork, where everyone contributes their expertise. We foster a flat hierarchy and a can-do attitude, offering flexible working hours and family-friendly working models, along with training opportunities in a field of work at the cutting edge of translational research.
We Value Diversity and Sustainability
ETH Zurich promotes an inclusive culture by encouraging equality of opportunity and nurturing a working and learning environment that respects the rights and dignity of all our staff and students. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to learn more about how we maintain a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and thrive. Sustainability is integral to our mission as we consistently work towards a climate-neutral future.
Curious? So Are We.
We look forward to receiving your application. Please apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.
For further information about NEXUS Personalized Health, please visit our website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Dr. Daniel Stekhoven at stekhoven@nexus.ethz.ch or Dr. Franziska Singer at singer@nexus.ethz.ch (no applications). For recruitment services, the General Terms and Conditions of ETH Zurich apply.
About ETH Zürich
ETH Zurich is among the world's leading universities specializing in science and technology, renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research, and the direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 individuals from more than 120 countries find our university to be a hub for independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe and connected globally, we collaborate to develop solutions for today’s and tomorrow's global challenges.