Principal Bioinformatician

About the role

Sana Biotechnology is growing, and we are hiring new team members who believe in the potential of engineered cells as medicines, who are passionate about delivering the possible to patients, and who lead with the desire to work on novel ideas. As a Principal Bioinformatician, you will report to the Senior Genomics Lead, and work under the broader direction of the Head of Stem Cell Sciences. You will work towards the common goal of quality control for cell therapy products using genomics and epigenomics. This position will routinely design experiments and analyze data of the following assays: whole genome sequencing, amplicon-sequencing, CUT&TAG, CUT&RUN. Daily responsibilities include data management, experimental design, optimization and maintenance of computational workflows, incorporation of new methodologies, and providing interpretable results to aid in hythothesis generation.

What you’ll do

• Maintain preprocessing pipelines for CUT&TAG, CUT&RUN, and genome sequencing data. This requires an extensive working knowledge of linux/unix commands, computer programming languages (R/python) and application of open-source software tools


• Secondary analyses of processed epigenetics and genome data including identification of high-risk single nucleotide polymorphism, pathway enrichment analysis, functional annotation, transcription factor binding site prediction, putative motif identification, and chromatin accessibility prediction


• Storage and maintenance (data management) of raw data

What we’re looking for

• Advanced degree in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or related discipline and 8-10 years of related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience


• Experience with epigenetic preprocessing pipeline and secondary analysis


• Experience with WGS, WES, and amplicon-sequencing pipeline


• Competency with R, Python, SQL


• Familarity with nextflow


• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills to effectively communicate results to non-bioinformatic team members; strong organizational and analytical skills; and the ability to work in a highly cooperative team environment as well as independently


• Knowledge of version control (GitHub, Docker, conda) is a plus


• Experience with biological data

What will separate you from the crowd

• Publication of your involvement in epigenetic analysis or WGS analysis


• Knowledge of basic statistics, linear model building, principal component analysis, and factor analysis


• Knowledge of state-of-the-art variant annotation tools and databases

What you should know

• The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $175,000 and $205,000/year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience

How we work together for patients

• Lead from every seat – we seek to understand, act with honesty, and engage in the crucial conversations


• Thrive as a team – we hire amazing people, are intensely curious, and cultivate inclusion and personal connectivity


• Make it happen – we value vigorous debate, alignment around our decisions, and resilient execution

Get to know us

At Sana, we believe that a diverse workforce strengthens us as a company and helps us to achieve our mission to meaningfully change the outcome of many human diseases. This belief is a pillar of our business and is critical to our success. Our goal is that Sana is the place for talented people to bring their authentic selves to work, to have a great career and to deeply, positively impact patients.

Core to our values, we believe there is nothing more important than the health and wellness of you and your family. For benefit eligible employees, we cover 100% of the cost for employee health coverage and offer generous time-off (various paid time off benefits, such as holidays, vacation, sick time, and parental leave), short- and long-term disability, employer paid basic life insurance, additional voluntary life insurance protection, financial wellness programs including financial planning resources, a 401(k) Plan with an immediately vested employer match, Tuition Reimbursement and Student Loan Repayment, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, commuter subsidy and a variety of wellness offerings to support each person individually. For more details on our benefits, visit Sana’s Benefits Portal.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental or sensory disability (including the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability), genetic information, actual or perceived HIV or Hepatitis C infection, medical condition (cancer or a record or history of cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), disability, veteran status, political ideology, social class (including caste/caste identity), taking or requesting statutorily protected leave, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each job responsibility satisfactorily. The job description listed above is representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions described above.