Vacancy title:
Research Scientist – Bioinformatics Specialist

[Type: FULL_TIME, Industry: Healthcare, Category: Health Professionals]

Jobs at:
Ifakara Health Institute (IHI)

Deadline of this Job:
Monday, July 7 2025

Duty Station:
Dar es Salaam | Tanzania

Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, June 24 2025, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

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JOB DETAILS:

Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) is a leading research organization in Africa with a strong track record in developing, testing and validating innovations for health. Driven by a core strategic mandate for research, training and services, the Institute’s work now spans a wide spectrum, covering biomedical and ecological sciences, intervention studies, health-systems research, service delivery and policy translation. 

Position Summary 

Ifakara Health Institute is looking to recruit experienced Bioinformaticians/Computational Biologists to support the growing bioinformatics capacity. The ideal candidate will be responsible for selecting and implementing bioinformatics tools, developing custom software solutions, providing training, and ensuring high-quality data analysis workflows. This position will also involve collaborating with internal teams and external partners to integrate and share genomic and other biological data effectively.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Tool Selection and Customization
   • Identify and select appropriate bioinformatics software for sequencing analysis, variant calling, structural bioinformatics, and other relevant research areas.
   • Develop or modify in-house tools to meet the specific needs of research projects, ensuring alignment with current scientific and technical requirements.
2. Training and Capacity Building
   • Provide ongoing training for both technical and non-technical staff in the use of bioinformatics tools, programming languages, and data analysis techniques.
   • Promote capacity building to improve the team’s proficiency in bioinformatics and computational biology.
3. Workflow Development
   • Develop and implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and reproducible workflows for data processing and analysis, ensuring consistency, reliability, and transparency in research processes.
   • Continuously optimize workflows to accommodate new technologies and scientific advances.
4. Data Integration
   • Create and maintain systems for integrating diverse datasets (genomic, clinical, epidemiological) to facilitate comprehensive analysis and support interdisciplinary research.
   • Ensure the integration of multi-omics data in a seamless, user-friendly manner.
5. Collaboration & Data Sharing
   • Implement collaborative platforms for sharing results, datasets, and findings with external partners, following open science practices and adhering to data privacy policies.
   • Foster cross-functional collaboration between bioinformaticians, researchers, and other stakeholders to ensure the successful integration of bioinformatics into scientific workflows.
6. Quality Assurance & Validation
   • Regularly validate bioinformatics tools and data analysis pipelines with known datasets to ensure accuracy, reliability, and reproducibility of results.
   • Conduct troubleshooting and debugging of bioinformatics tools and workflows to resolve issues in a timely manner.

Qualification and Experience

• Master’s degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, or a related field. Proven experience in bioinformatics, data analysis, and programming (e.g., Python, R, Bash).
• Expertise in using bioinformatics tools for sequencing, variant calling, structural bioinformatics, and data visualization.
• Experience in developing custom software solutions for research purposes.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to train and collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical staff.
• Familiarity with data privacy, security regulations, and open science practices.

Skills and Competencies

• Experience with cloud computing platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, etc.) and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
• Familiarity with integrating multi-omics datasets (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, etc.).
• Knowledge of epidemiological and clinical data analysis techniques

Remuneration  

This is an internship position providing basic salary as well as the opportunities to learn and apply for a PhD position.

Equal Opportunity

IHI is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit intentional biases or discrimination and harassment of any kind at the work place and during recruitment. All employment decisions are based solely on job requirements and individual qualifications, and our recruitment process is governed by the labour laws of Tanzania.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 120

Level of Education: bachelor degree

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