Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and the University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence—a seal that was awarded in 2011.

The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and public communication of science. Its 28 laboratories and seven core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions.

IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 members and 35 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona forms part of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the “Xarxa de Centres de Recerca de Catalunya” (CERCA).

IRB Barcelona seeks an experienced high-performance computing specialist to work in the Genome Data Science Laboratory (led by ICREA professor Fran Supek) at the IRB Barcelona.

The group aims to attract a Scientific Computing Lab Manager to manage the cluster, storage and the genomics pipelines of the team. The Lab Manager’s overall mission will to be design and administer the hardware and software infrastructure that enables scientific research on human genomic big data. Further, they will supervise and train team members. The Genome Data Science laboratory is dedicated to discovering new ways to diagnose and treat cancer, in the framework of the European Research Council (ERC) project “HYPER-INSIGHT” and the EU Horizon2020 project “DECIDER”.

The role of the Scientific Computing Lab Manager will focus on the provision of state-of-the-art high-performance computing services and bioinformatics/genomics pipelines, in the collaborative setting of the Genome Data Science laboratory. In particular, this will involve being responsible for maintaining the group’s compute cluster (Linux system admin; SLURM workload manager admin) and the group’s storage units (Netapp, Synology), both in collaboration with the central IRB IT service.

Furthermore, the lab manager will interface with the IRB IT service to expedite solutions for diverse IT-related issues in the group (e.g. software setup), and also supervise and train lab members in their use of the group’s HPC resources.

Finally, the lab manager will maintain the code of the group’s own genomics pipelines and run the pipelines on the group cluster or on the cloud (e.g. AWS or Google).

Optionally, if desired, there is possibility of developing own research projects that fit within the research interests of the group, at the interface of genomics, HPC and AI.

A competitive salary can be offered, commensurate to experience. Flexible working arrangement. Starting date is as soon as possible.

Early applications are encouraged.

DUTIES: 

• Provision of broad, state-of-the-art high-performance computing services to support research of the Genome Data Science group.
• Maintaining the group’s compute cluster (Linux system administration and software installation; SLURM workload manager administration)
• Helping manage the groups’ netapp and Synology storage systems; helping manage the group’s Linux workstations
• Choosing/purchasing new computing equipment, together with the PI and IRB administration
• Interfacing with the IRB central IT service to expedite solutions for IT-related issues in the team
• Training lab members in applying best-practices to the use of the group’s IT resources and supercomputing/cloud computing services
• Running and maintaining the group’s genomics pipelines on own cluster, and/or on supercomputers

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS:

Must Have – Required: 

• Experience: One year or more experience in work on administering Linux machines (preferrably servers/compute clusters)

• Knowledge: BSc or MSc in field relevant to the duties described (e.g. computer science, applied mathematics, bioinformatics/genomics). PhD-level candidates are encouraged to apply.

• Skills: Ability to work independently. Ability to interact well within an international team consisting of researchers of diverse career stages (PhD students, postdocs). Self-management.

• Languages: A solid level of spoken English is required.

Desirable:

•  Experience:
  • (i) administering and troubleshooting Slurm or another workload manager (SGE, HTCondor etc.);
  • (ii) use of supercomputing and/or cloud computing (e.g. AWS, Google Cloud
  • (iii) use of containers (Singularity, Docker) and/or Conda and/or EasyBuild.

• Knowledge:
  • (i) knowledge and/or desire to learn about bioinformatics methods and tools – e.g. aligners, variant callers [mutations, structural variants]).
    

• Skills: supervision/training of junior colleagues. Ability to deal with exceptional situations on short notice.

WORKING CONDITIONS & ENTITLEMENTS:

• Working conditions: Employed in compliance with Spanish legislation and regulations under a full-time contract. Employees receive the benefits of the Spanish Social Security system covering sickness, maternity/paternity leaves and injuries at work. Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.
• International environment: The opportunity to join a prestigious, diverse and inclusive international research institution and to become a member of an established research group.
• Benefits: Continuous training in a high-quality environment with unique professional career opportunities. 

HOW TO APPLY & SELECTION PROCESS:

Applications for the above opening should include ( i ) a CV (listing 1-3 relevant accomplishments, e.g. technical achievements, or software developed, or work on collaborative projects, or scientific publication; and explaining the candidate’s contribution to each project in several sentences), ( ii ) motivation letter, and ( iii ) contact information of 2-3 potential referees.

• Deadline for applications: 20/02/2023 (If no suitable candidate is found, the deadline will be extended) 
• Number of positions available: 1
• Selection process:
  • Pre-selection: Will be based on CV, motivation letter, experience, management of research and innovation and references. 
  • Interviews: Short-listed candidates will be interviewed.
  • Job offer: Will be sent to the successful candidate after the interview. 

Note: The strengths and weaknesses of the applications will be provided upon request.