Lead Bioinformatics Platform

About the Role

KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) is seeking a Lead for the Bioinformatics Platform. This full-time position, located in Thuwal, Makkah, involves providing scientific, technical, operational, and financial leadership for the Platform's bioinformatics and software infrastructure teams. The role focuses on coordinating and overseeing the delivery and continuous development of bioinformatics services, computational workflows, software tools, and data infrastructure to support KAUST researchers and Core Labs.

Role Overview

The Lead will provide strategic and day-to-day leadership to a multidisciplinary team of bioinformatics and software professionals. Key responsibilities include ensuring the Platform delivers reliable, scalable, and high-quality services, while also developing new capabilities aligned with KAUST's research priorities. The position requires close collaboration with the Platform Chair, affiliated faculty, the Bioscience Core Lab, KAUST IT, the Supercomputing Core Lab, other Research Platforms and Core Labs, researchers, and external collaborators. The role integrates computational infrastructure, bioinformatics analysis, workflow automation, and software development into robust and sustainable research capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide scientific, technical, operational, and financial leadership for the Bioinformatics Platform team.
• Lead project planning and resource allocation across the team, balancing service delivery, infrastructure, software development, and R&D.
• Plan and oversee capability development in areas such as genomics, metagenomics, microbiome analysis, spatial omics, sequencing technologies, structural biology, multi-omics, and AI-enabled biological data analysis.
• Monitor developments in bioinformatics, computational biology, AI, and software engineering to introduce relevant technologies.
• Ensure efficient day-to-day delivery of bioinformatics and data analysis services.
• Provide expert guidance on bioinformatics and computational approaches for complex research projects.
• Establish and maintain relationships with faculty, researchers, Core Labs, IT, and external partners.
• Contribute to new collaborations, externally funded projects, and consultancy opportunities.
• Lead the development and improvement of scalable bioinformatics workflows, analytical pipelines, and software tools.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of web-based bioinformatics services and computational resources.
• Develop and implement software and computational asset management strategies.
• Contribute to FAIR data management practices.
• Plan and oversee SOPs, workflows, and documentation.
• Coordinate with KAUST IT and the Supercomputing Core Lab on computational resources.
• Establish quality control, quality assurance, validation, reproducibility, and documentation practices.
• Lead financial planning and budget management for the Platform.
• Identify opportunities for cost optimization, external funding, and service revenue.
• Recruit, mentor, coach, and develop staff, fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment.
• Lead the development of new bioinformatics methodologies, software tools, and AI-driven methods.
• Contribute to training, workshops, publications, and grant proposals.

Qualifications and Experience

• At least 5-8 years of professional experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, scientific software development, data science, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated experience in leading or managing multidisciplinary technical/scientific teams.
• Proven experience developing and maintaining bioinformatics workflows, software tools, computational infrastructure, and/or data analysis services.
• Experience working with large and complex biological datasets and modern sequencing technologies.
• Substantial experience with HPC and Linux-based computational environments is essential.
• Experience in financial planning, budget management, and resource allocation.
• Experience in a research, core facility, research platform, or similarly multidisciplinary environment is preferred.
• Experience working with researchers and stakeholders from diverse scientific and technical backgrounds is essential.
• Experience in an international and multicultural environment is essential.
• A track record of scientific publications, software/tools, technical contributions, or other demonstrable impact is preferred.

Work Environment

The role is based in Thuwal, Makkah, and involves working within a dynamic, international, and multicultural research environment at KAUST. The Lead will collaborate extensively with various internal and external stakeholders, contributing to a leading scientific institution.