Introduction / Description

Janssen Discovery Sciences is a center of excellence focused on small-molecule drug discovery at Janssen R&D. Our scientists, together with a deep network of partners and collaborators, perform cutting-edge research from target & lead discovery through pre-clinical safety assessment to discover and develop transformational medicines. Every day we use our deep scientific expertise in drug discovery and development and our integrated suite of enabling technologies, platforms and tools to advance the research portfolio of Janssen’s five Therapeutic Areas: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience and Oncology.

Within Discovery Sciences, the department of Computational Sciences provides expertise in computational/systems biology and big data analytics to support all aspects of drug discovery and development. The team provides a variety of complementary computational methodologies to extract meaningful and actionable information from biomedical data to facilitate the identification and validation of new targets in partnership with disease area experts in the therapeutic area discovery groups. The team is heavily engaged in deploying bioinformatics, machine learning and cutting-edge computational modeling and simulations techniques to advance our understanding of disease. The in silico activities are complemented and experimentally validated by wet lab capabilities within the team, utilizing stem cell, molecular genetics, gene editing, next generation sequencing and a variety of ‘-omics’ technologies

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate to join the European Computational Sciences team. The successful candidate will have a broad bioinformatics experience with a good working knowledge of genetics / pathway biology and deep scientific expertise in a number of disciplines including high-dimensional omics technologies and data analysis, methodologies for drug discovery and reverse translation coupled with the ability to work collaboratively with internal and external partners.  Whereas the position will be based in Beerse (Belgium), it will support global teams in the different therapeutic areas and its Disease Area Strongholds. Furthermore, as the immune system plays a pivotal role in the progression of many diseases, background in immunology is a plus.

Description of the function

• Work closely with therapeutic area teams to understand where bioinformatics approaches can best impact their scientific and technical challenges.
• Steer application of bioinformatics/genomics to benefit projects in therapeutic area projects.
• Work collaboratively with wet lab, IT and statistical specialists to deliver processes, tools and techniques to solve scientific problems.
• Application of a wide range of genomic technologies (RNAseq, WES, WGS) to target identification, validation and biomarker discovery.
• Development and application of approaches combining multi-omic data sets (including next-generation-sequencing) with phenotypic annotation to reveal actionable insights surrounding complex biological problems.
• Written and verbal communication of study results to project teams, including proposals for further experiments to validate key findings.
• Build and steer further development of small prototype tools for bench scientists to access and visualize project data.
• Play a key role in the interactions with other omics experts in functional areas such as Toxicology and Quantitative Sciences.
• Collaborate with industry and academia, and exploit external resources, to find the most effective solutions to complex biological problems.

• PhD in bioinformatics, biostatistics, computational biology or similar. Alternately, a PhD in molecular biology, immunology, etc. combined with a very strong record of high-throughput data analysis, supported by publication in this area.
• Post-doctoral experience as well as exposure to wet lab activities in an academic or industrial setting is a plus.
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex omics datasets (e.g. microarrays, next-generation sequencing, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry proteomics, etc.).
• Proficiency in appropriate programming languages and software (e.g., R /Python/Perl/ Tableau/Spotfire) and data management.
• Strong written and oral presentation capabilities, with a convincing record of peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific conferences. Ability to clearly articulate scientific and operational concepts of biomarker research across functions, levels, and disciplines.
• High intrinsic motivation in combination with strong scientific curiosity and a high level of autonomy.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work productively in a highly dynamic environment.
• Strong team orientation, highly collaborative and results-oriented.
• Good planning, prioritization, problem solving, and organizational skills.
• Knowledge and understanding of the regulatory, legal and operational requirements of sample collection and data handling for omics analyses in clinical studies is a plus.