Database Administrator

In the:

Part of Crick Operations.

The post holder reports to the Database Team Lead. They are responsible for working with the members of the Database Services team to support the day to day running of the operational and scientific database systems. In addition, the post holder works on tasks specified by the Database Team Lead to support projects, following discussions with stakeholders from across the Crick, including senior management, service owners, and representatives across the Crick’s scientific community and external partners.
Deadline for applications has passed.

Key information

Job reference
R744
Salary
Competitive
Applications closed
27 May 2022, 23:59 BST
Hours per week
36 (full time)
Contact
Email administrator
Posted 27 April 2022
Background texture taken from the lab imagery.

Database Administrator

This is a full time, fixed term (18 months) contract position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the world’s leading research institutes as part of the Crick-GSK LinkLabs collaboration at a crucial time in its evolution, and play a definitive role in shaping it for the future.

The role will reside in the Scientific Computing STP within the Francis Crick Institute and is responsible for delivering the data model to support the scientific pipelines and the AI/ML pipelines for downstream analysis. This role will play an integral part in the development and support of this scientific research project, as well as developing and supporting operational applications.

As part of the Crick-GSK LinkLabs collaboration, we seek a talented, highly motivated Database Administrator with a strong leaning towards open source technologies and experience in several programming languages, platforms and environments with a Science background.

The candidate will work closely with the Crick-GSK LinkLabs team and the Scientific Computing STP to continue the development of the data model, scientific data pipelines and database services to support the project going forward.

Key responsibilities

These include but are not limited to:

  • Will work closely with Crick and GSK researchers and software engineers in the following main discipline areas e.g. Proteomics, High Content Screening, Chemistry and AI & Machine Learning.
  • Develop database schema design to support new scientific or operational processes and systems, which will translate into a data model to support the project. Developing a good understanding of the scientific data flow.
  • Provide advice on the best technologies to support particular scientific omics data requirements to the researchers.
  • Maintain the data standards, data security and integrity of the various database systems and the data they contain.
  • Manage the loading and presentation of the scientific omics data to the researchers, implementing automated processes to manage the database landscape and standardize the database management operations, where appropriate.
  • Identification, creation and development of the data reporting layers and dashboards, providing access to the database data, with an aim to extract the analytical insights from the data.
  • Maintain and create documentation to support existing and new operational database processes, standards etc., including project. walkthroughs/overviews back to the team and other research collaborators.
  • Identify and capture user requirements and deliver solutions ensuring agreed requirements are met, building prototypes and experimenting with new technology, where appropriate.
  • Ability to approach research problems with initiative and flexibility.
  • Ability to critically analyse, assimilate, and communicate complex scientific data clearly and concisely.

Key qualifications, experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

Essential

  • An undergraduate degree in Computer Science (or similar), Bioinformatics or other science discipline. A candidate without a degree but with the relevant in-depth database experience will also be considered.
  • Experience of analysing data to support biomedical sciences with a focus on ‘omics (proteomics, genomics, metabolomics) and/or other high-content screening platforms e.g. cell painting.
  • Strong Experience in database technologies especially open source RDBMS technologies e.g. PostgreSQL, NoSQL, Graph etc.
  • Evidence of good competence in database administration, development and the ability to productively use SQL and diverse database management tools.
  • Excellent understanding of systems analysis, relational data modelling and database design and development.
  • Working experience in at least one of the programming/scripting languages e.g. Python, R, Java, Shell Scripting, procedural language. Experience of version control software e.g. GitHub.
  • Able to work effectively without close supervision, working successfully and collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships at all levels and the ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience.
  • Highly motivated, self-starter and committed to learning and personal improvement.
  • Able to work accurately under pressure and delivering with tight deadlines.

Desirable

Experience of knowledge in any of the following areas would be beneficial:

Qualifications, experience and competencies:

  • Experience with other technologies/languages (C++, Matlab, Fiji/ImageJ, Nextflow, Neo4J)
  • Experience with biological datasets and data integration from multiple bioinformatics sources.
  • Working experience in large-scale omics data analysis applications and databases.
  • Experience of Agile or similar delivery oriented project methods and tools
  • Good understanding of systems and business requirements processes
  • Experience of Data visualization methods and tools.  

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