Programmer/Analyst II

Summary

The Bioinformatics Research Lab leads data coordination and resource development for the Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium (ERCC) LINK: ( https://exrna.org/ ), an NIH consortium focused on understanding the role of extracellular RNA (exRNA) and exosomes, and their potential use as biomarkers. The Programmer Analyst II will develop tools and services for the ERCC. A key part of the ERCC mission is to develop advanced software methods for exRNA and exRNA carrier identification and characterization. Example applications to be supported and further enhanced include the exRNA Atlas, exceRpt analytical pipeline, message queues, and data submission pipelines. The Programmer Analyst II will evaluate requirements and perform feasibility studies for new analysis applications using a variety of "omic" data, implement improvements to exceRpt, data submission pipelines and the exRNA Atlas, evaluate resource requirements for conducting computational analyses using these applications, and implement and test solutions while working closely with consortium members to obtain user feedback. These activities will be carried out as part of the ERCC data coordination center (DCC). A goal for the software created by programmers will be their application to important biological questions for publication in high impact journals.

The candidates should have experience with good software engineering practices, designing and developing software solutions to specifications and according to local standards and practices, and with the use of version control systems. In addition, candidates must have excellent English-language communication skills, interpersonal skills, and be capable of working within a team of biologists and programmers. Candidates who can contribute to system administration of in-house virtualized and non-virtualized IT assets as a minor duty will also be viewed favorably.

Job Duties

• Attend web conference calls to gather, evaluate, and prioritize requirements with project collaborators and stakeholders.
• Work with BRL software development team to design, code, implement, test, and debug project resources and tools, and manage timelines.
• Ensure that project programs and tools are developed, tested and delivered on time.
• Participate in the integration of high-volume ERCC data sets.
• Design, implement, and execute project resources; and work with BRL staff to integrate new tools for genetic data analysis and visualization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Information Technology, or a related field. Four years of related experience may substitute for degree requirement.
• Two years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Applicants must have knowledge and experience with development, compilation, and deployment in a GNU/Linux environment.

Additional requirements include:

• A working understanding of mutexes, threads, guards, and conditional and atomic variables.
• An ability to contribute to and use shared object-oriented code libraries.
• Two years’ experience in Ruby is required. One year experience with Ruby on Rails. Functional familiarity with one or more modern 3rd generation languages such as Python, Perl, and/or EcmaScript 5/6, as well as standard web technologies such as Ajax, CSS, HTML, REST APIs, JSON-LD. Typical data processing pipelines will operate in a GNU/Linux environment and be implemented using programming languages such as Python, Ruby, and NodeJS. Experience with EcmaScript 5/6+ and NodeJS will be a distinct advantage.
• Experience with document, graph, and relational databases is a plus.

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.

6462

CA; CH