Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.
Job End Date
January 31, 2027
At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.
Job Summary
The Research Technician will contribute to nucleotide-based vaccine and therapeutic research through wet lab experimentation and computational genomics analysis. The position requires both molecular biology skills and bioinformatics expertise.
Organizational Status
Reports to the Principal Investigator and is supervised by senior researchers in the lab. Communicates regularly with an interdisciplinary team of scientists.
Work Performed
Experimental Research
· Assists senior lab members with experimental design, and conducts experiments as part of the lab's research projects
· Develops and performs immunological assays
· Analyzes and interprets experiment results and troubleshoots problems as needed
· Conducts molecular biology techniques such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, RT-qPCR, DNA and RNA isolation, DNA sequencing, molecular cloning and recombinant DNA technology
· Prepares samples for next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, single-cell sequencing, whole genome sequencing)
· Cultures mammalian cell lines using various established and experimental methods, and conducts high efficiency transformations, cellular genomic DNA extractions, growth curves and plate-based growth assays, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and enzyme assays
· Performs viral and bacterial work as required
Bioinformatics and Genomics
· Processes and analyzes next-generation sequencing data
· Performs genome assembly, variant calling, SNP/indel analysis, structural variant detection
· Conducts differential gene expression analysis, pathway enrichment, gene ontology analysis
· Uses alignment tools, performs motif finding, designs primers and guides, annotates sequences
· Implements and optimizes bioinformatics workflows and pipelines
· Integrates multi-omics data with immunological and phenotypic data
· Applies statistical methods to genomic and experimental datasets
· Develops scripts for data processing and quality control
· Creates figures integrating genomic and experimental data
Laboratory Operations
· Orders stock and reagents, procures equipment, performs general maintenance around the lab and safety tasks
· Prepares reagents, solutions, and related material for routine laboratory use
· Organizes and maintains sequencing data, analysis code, and bioinformatics outputs
· Manages data storage and backup protocols
· Searches, reads and interprets research literature
· Presents research results at laboratory meetings
· Documents and communicates experimental plans and results in various formats
· Maintains laboratory notebooks (e.g. bound paper and/or electronic notebook) and files on all experiments and procedures performed
· Assists the lab manager in performing tasks such as lab organization, purchasing supplies and procurement of small equipment
· Trains undergraduate students, new and lower level technicians on lab standard protocols and procedures, equipment and bioinformatic tools
· Maintains a clean and orderly working environment in the lab
· Contributes to figures and written work for publication, grant applications and presentations
· Carries out any other related duties as required in keeping with the qualifications and requirements of positions in this classification
Consequence of Error/Judgement
Attention to detail and exercising judgement are essential. The Research Technician will be responsible for reporting errors or problems in their work in a timely manner, and participates in a resolution to correct those errors. Improperly conducted procedures may warrant the repetition of experiments affecting the timeline of the research project and wasting of resources.
Supervision Received
Works under general supervision, carries out day-to-day tasks in collaboration with other Technicians, Students, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates in the lab. Receives guidance from the Principal Investigator in weekly meetings to ensure priorities are met. Will receive instructions on unusual problems or on matters which depart significantly from established procedures.
Supervision Given
This position has no supervisory responsibilities. The Research Technician will work as part of a team and may train and advise students on various techniques.
Minimum Qualifications
Completion of a relevant technical program or a university degree in a relevant discipline and a minimum three years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
Preference will be given to candidates holding a Master’s degree in the field of biology, microbiology, immunology, or related area of study. Demonstrated experience in NGS data analysis, programming (Python, R, Bash), molecular biology, microscopy, flow cytometry, statistical analysis, and biochemistry. Proper data management and reproducible analysis practices are required.
Skills
Computational:
· Proficiency in R and/or Python
· Experience with Bash scripting
· Familiarity with bioinformatics tools such as BLAST, Bowtie2, STAR, samtools, bcftools, bedtools, GATK, DESeq2, edgeR
· Experience with sequence analysis platforms (UCSC Genome Browser, IGV, Galaxy)
· Git/GitHub for code management
· Working knowledge of NCBI, Ensembl, UCSC, UniProt, and other genomic databases
· Additional assets: Experience with high-performance computing clusters or cloud computing, bioinformatics workflow managers (Snakemake, Nextflow)
Software:
· MS Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive
· GraphPad Prism or equivalent statistical software
· BioRender, Adobe Acrobat
· RStudio, Jupyter notebooks, or similar
Laboratory:
· Molecular biology techniques (PCR, cloning, sequencing)
· Cell culture (mammalian, bacterial)
· Immunological assays
· Flow cytometry and microscopy
· NGS library preparation
Other Skills
· Maintains accuracy and attention to detail
· Identifies problems and contributes to solutions
· Effective oral and written communication skills
· Effective interpersonal, multi-tasking, time-management, and organizational skills
· Initiative in collaborating on setting priorities and meeting deadlines
· Flexibility and responsiveness to changing needs
· Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment