Job Advert
Bioinformatician
About the Organisation:
Public Health Scotland launched on the 1st April 2020 as a national health board, employing around 1200 people, and with an annual budget of around £101 million. Public Health Scotland wants to see a Scotland where everybody thrives, a Scotland where life expectancy improves and the difference in life expectancy between our poorest and wealthiest areas gets smaller.
Public Health Scotland is Scotland’s lead national agency for improving and protecting the health and wellbeing of all of Scotland’s people. Our vision is of a Scotland where everybody thrives. Our focus is on increasing healthy life expectancy and reducing premature mortality. To do this, we use data, intelligence and a place-based approach to lead and deliver Scotland’s public health priorities.
This post is within the Clinical and Protecting Health Directorate, which protects the people of Scotland from infectious and environmental hazards. The Directorate provides high-quality clinical advice and maintains public health knowledge.
The Post:
An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Clinical and Protecting Health Directorate of PHS, within their Public Health Microbiology Bioinformatics Team. Genomic services have been established in the NHS for a number of bacterial pathogens in the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories (SMiRL), and viral pathogens in the Scottish Specialist Virology Centres (SSVC). PHS bioinformatics team supports local bioinformatic analysis in SMiRL of bacterial services, and provides a centralised bioinformatics service for SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the team supports pathogen genomic surveillance from environmental sources, including wastewater-based surveillance, to inform population-level monitoring of infectious diseases.
The investment by the Scottish Government in pathogen sequencing has provided the potential to expand the repertoire of pathogens sequenced and from a wider range of origins. The post holder will be responsible for the delivery of bioinformatics in PHS and the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories.
The Candidate:
The post holder will maintain, enhance and develop reliable and efficient infrastructure for bioinformatics tools and processes to ensure the highest quality public health microbiology service. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining protocols for the primary and secondary analysis of next generation sequencing (NGS) to support public health surveillance and reporting, including the analysis of complex genomic datasets derived from wastewater and other environmental sources.
You will have strong communication skills and work collaboratively with the scientific staff to transform large volumes of statistical and genomic data into annotated results for clinical reporting in PHS.
You shall be an enthusiastic, flexible individual who will provide leadership and highly specialised advice and training on bioinformatics to colleagues within PHS, the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories and the wider public health microbiology community.
The successful candidate will be required to undergo a Disclosure Scotland check. Any candidate who has lived/worked overseas for more than 12 months in the preceding 5 years will also be required to provide a criminal record check from the appropriate overseas agency.
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Location and Working Pattern:
The post is based in either Gyle Square, Edinburgh or Bothwell Street, Glasgow. We are currently hybrid working; therefore, you will be expected to spend time in both PHS offices as well as the option to work at home.
There will be an expectation to travel to local areas for some meetings and events.
The work pattern for this post is Monday to Friday, 28.8 hours per week.
PHS is a flexible employer, and we are happy to discuss requests for alternative working patterns
During times of public health emergency, or other urgent business need, you may be required on a temporary basis to work your normal contracted working hours over 7 days including weekends, in order to meet the needs of the service.
It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with PHS.
Benefits:
Our benefits package includes pension scheme, comprehensive range of work life balance policies, occupational health services, learning resource centres and discounted leisure, financial and shopping benefits. Click here to view the full range of the PHS Employee Benefits.
Inclusion:
Public Health Scotland (PHS) is a national NHS board committed to being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming employer. We support a range of flexible working options to help colleagues balance work and personal responsibilities. As an Established Carer Positive employer, we are committed to supporting staff with caring responsibilities and fostering a flexible, understanding workplace culture.
We offer a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support colleagues to grow and thrive. Staff are also welcome to join our active equality networks.
As an equal opportunities and Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria, and we are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive recruitment experience.
PHS is working towards becoming a trauma informed organisation and recognises that trauma may affect people in different ways, including during the recruitment process.
If you need reasonable adjustments or support, please contact the Recruitment Team on nss.wfrs@nhs.scot
Further Information:
For an informal discussion on the post, please contact Sharif Shaaban on sharif.shaaban2@phs.scot
Closing date for completed applications is 1 June 2026.
Further information on PHS is available from: www.publichealthscotland.scot
Please note that the majority of correspondence is sent by e-mail only, so please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders).