Group Leader Clinical Bioinformatics
80%-100%, Basel, permanent
The ETH Zurich technology platform NEXUS Personalized Health facilitates discovery and translational research focused on personalized health. Our diverse expertise encompasses Clinical Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Software Engineering, Systems Operations, and Screening & Lab Automation.
Within this multidisciplinary environment, the Clinical Bioinformatics group translates computational biology into clinically applicable outcomes, bridging the gap between biomedical research and clinical practice. Our work involves project-specific analyses and the integration of high-dimensional molecular data, ranging from whole-genome variant calling and decision support to single-cell sequencing analysis. We collaborate closely with academic institutions and hospitals to develop robust analysis workflows and reusable components.
Job Description
As the Group Leader of Clinical Bioinformatics, you will lead a team of bioinformatics analysts and software engineers. You will 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 methods, integrating cutting-edge techniques into clinical and translational research. A key aspect of the role is managing clinical and translational projects strategically, ensuring active stakeholder engagement.
- Project management: Structure and oversee projects end-to-end, ensuring clear scope definition, milestone planning, risk management, and alignment with translational and clinical quality requirements.
- Technical leadership: Drive development and enhancement of pipelines using Nextflow and Snakemake, while setting standards for workflow engineering, testing, documentation, and long-term maintainability.
- Delivery ownership: Take responsibility for timelines, quality, and stakeholder alignment across multiple projects with varying scopes.
- Project acquisition and customer management: Build relationships with researchers, clinicians, and partners, shaping projects, and translating 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: Actively listen and clarify what is useful, keeping the interface simple while your team manages technical complexities.
- Innovation and scientific advancement: Stay at the forefront of bioinformatics, AI, and data-driven medicine by evaluating emerging methods and translating 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.
- People leadership: Recruit, mentor, and develop team members while fostering knowledge exchange and maintaining high standards.
- Resource management: Plan capacity, prioritize work, and contribute to budgeting and reporting for the group.
Self-Assessment
You will thrive in this role if you...
- Enjoy owning projects end-to-end, from shaping initial questions with clinicians and partners to delivering robust, reusable solutions with clear outcomes.
- Like working across disciplines and building close collaborations with clinicians and cross-functional partners, rather than working in isolation.
- Are comfortable setting direction, making prioritization decisions, and being accountable for timelines and quality.
- Enjoy building workflows that others rely on while continuously improving them to enhance reproducibility, scalability, and impact.
- Can translate complex, multimodal data into decision-support outputs that are clear, usable, and focused on physicians' needs without overwhelming them with technical details.
- Set high standards for workflow engineering, testing, documentation, and Git-based collaboration, and enjoy guiding a team to meet those standards together.
Profile
Non-Negotiables:
- Proven leadership experience in clinical bioinformatics, genomics, or translational research delivery.
- Hands-on experience in developing and extending analysis pipelines and reusable components.
- Workflow management with Nextflow and/or Snakemake, with the capability to establish team standards.
- Daily practice of Git version control is mandatory.
- Strong clinician-facing communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Excellent communication proficiency 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 working with various data types, from variant calling and expression analysis to single-cell sequencing analysis.
- Experience with quality control and reporting in genomics/transcriptomics.
Advantageous:
- Experience in statistics or advanced software engineering practices beyond scripting.
- Familiarity with HPC usage and Bash programming.
- Knowledge of the German language.
Workplace
At NEXUS, we prioritize knowledge exchange and teamwork, where each member contributes their expertise. We maintain flat hierarchies and promote a proactive attitude. We offer flexible working hours and family-friendly working models, along with training opportunities and a dynamic environment on the cutting edge of translational research.
We Value Diversity and Sustainability
In alignment with our values, ETH Zurich fosters an inclusive culture. We advocate for equal opportunities, cherish diversity, and cultivate a work and learning environment where the rights and dignity of all staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to learn how we maintain a fair and open environment that allows everyone to thrive. Sustainability is a core value for us - we are dedicated to consistently working towards a climate-neutral future.
Curious? So Are We.
We look forward to receiving your online application using the form below.
Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.
Further details about NEXUS Personalized Health can be found on our website. For inquiries regarding the position, feel free to reach out to Dr. Daniel Stekhoven at stekhoven@nexus.ethz.ch, and Dr. Franziska Singer at singer@nexus.ethz.ch (application submissions should not be sent via email).
About ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading universities specializing in science and technology. Recognized for our exemplary education, pioneering research, and direct transfer of new knowledge into society, we are home to over 30,000 individuals from more than 120 countries. Our university fosters independent thought and inspires excellence. Situated in the heart of Europe, we forge global connections to develop solutions for today's and tomorrow's challenges.