Bioinformatics Jobs at German Cancer Research Center
The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is inviting applications for a Bioinformatician / Data Engineer to join the Translational Drug Response and Genomics Profiling Project in Heidelberg. These Bioinformatics Jobs are embedded within the Clinical Cooperation Unit “Pediatric Oncology” and focus on integrating multi-omics, drug sensitivity, and imaging data to advance precision medicine approaches for childhood cancer.
Job Details:
- Job Title: Bioinformatician / Data Engineer
- Project: Translational Drug Response and Genomics Profiling Project
- Reference Number: 2025-0332
- Department: Clinical Cooperation Unit “Pediatric Oncology”
- Location: Heidelberg, Germany
- Employment Type: Full-Time
- Hosting Groups:
-
Translational Genomics (Dr. Robert J. Autry)
-
Functional Pediatric Precision Oncology (Prof. Dr. Ina Oehme)
-
About the Company:
The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is one of Europe’s largest and most renowned cancer research institutions, dedicated to the mission “Research for a life without cancer.” DKFZ fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, and scientific excellence supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure and a global research network.
The Bioinformatician position is closely linked with the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), a joint initiative of DKFZ, Heidelberg University Hospital, and the University of Heidelberg. KiTZ integrates research and clinical care to improve diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer.
Educational Requirements for the Bioinformatician Role:
-
M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, or a related discipline
Key Responsibilities:
- In the Bioinformatics Jobs, you should develop, optimize, and standardize computational pipelines for multi-omics data processing, including mutation calling, RNA-seq, methylation, and epigenomic profiling
- Implement, automate, and maintain workflows for drug screening data analysis, including quality control, hit calling, and drug sensitivity classification in the Bioinformatician Role
- Integrate genomic, transcriptomic, and pharmacological datasets to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities and predictive biomarkers in the Bioinformatician Role.
- Develop user-friendly applications and dashboards for data visualization and data exploration
- Collaborate with wet-lab scientists, clinicians, and bioinformaticians on translational research projects
- Contribute to AI/ML-based high-content imaging analysis pipelines in the Computational Biology Jobs.
- Support students and postdoctoral researchers in computational and bioinformatics workflows
- Work with large-scale datasets including whole-genome sequencing, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, and drug response assays
Skills Required for the Bioinformatics Jobs:
Technical Skills:
- Strong experience with Linux/Unix systems
- Proficiency in Python, R, and Bash scripting
- Experience with bioinformatics workflows and multi-omics data integration
- Familiarity with machine learning approaches
- Experience with high-performance computing environments (preferred)
- Knowledge of AI-based image analysis and visualization tools, such as Streamlit, Shiny, or Dash (advantageous) are required for the Bioinformatician Role
Scientific & Soft Skills:
- Strong background in genomics, transcriptomics, or pharmacogenomics
- Understanding of drug screening and functional genomics data
- Knowledge of reproducible research principles and data standards are required for the Bioinformatician Role
- Excellent communication and documentation skills
- Collaborative, organized, and curiosity-driven mindset
- Ability to work independently and in multidisciplinary teams
- Fluency in English (German not required)
Benefits of the Bioinformatician Role:
- An interdisciplinary research environment within a leading European pediatric cancer research center
- Access to large-scale genomics, pharmacological, and imaging datasets
- Joint supervision and mentorship from two internationally recognized research groups
- Opportunity to contribute to clinically translatable discoveries in pediatric oncology
- You will gain exposure to cutting-edge technologies and AI-driven data analysis in the Bioinformatics Jobs.
- Meaningful work with direct impact on improving childhood cancer outcomes
