Job Description

Overview

Job Description

Salary: $204,000 - $252,000 per annum

Company: Borealis Biosciences

Borealis focuses on RNA therapeutics to address kidney diseases and related science. Borealis builds on the success of Chinook Therapeutics, a kidney disease company with a Vancouver research site acquired by Novartis in 2023. The Borealis team has leadership and academic advisors with deep experience in kidney disease and RNA therapeutics. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Borealis operates wet labs for molecular and cellular biology, in vivo pharmacology, chemistry, DMPK, bioinformatics, and analytical sciences.

We are a creative and innovative team focused on helping patients and advancing science. For more information, Borealis sites are: borealisbio.com and linkedin.com/company/borealis-biosciences-inc. We seek applicants from all backgrounds to ensure we get the best talent. We are building a diverse and inclusive workforce; candidates with non-traditional backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Position

The Director, Research Engineering is a service-oriented, forward-thinking team leader who oversees the design and development of scalable, cloud-based data and knowledge management solutions across the Research organization. This role is part of Translational Systems Biology and Data Sciences (TSBDS) and will identify and support LLM-based solutions to drive scientific advancements in drug discovery and development. The Director oversees the Research Engineering team and collaborates with subject matter experts across Research and IT to align architectural design, resourcing, product development and delivery with business objectives, scientific needs, and technical best practices. Experience with LLM technologies will be crucial for developing innovative solutions and driving experimentation in research and drug development. Reports to the Executive Director, Translational Systems Biology & Data Science (TSBDS).

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee work within the TSBDS team and collaborate with functional and IT teams to ensure architectural design, resourcing, product development and delivery align with business objectives, scientific needs, and technical best practices
• Drive architectural decision-making via workshops and brainstorming sessions to solve end-use requirements and use cases
• Develop strategic architectural roadmaps and guidelines for engineers and developers
• Choose technologies for new solutions and ensure integration with enterprise infrastructure
• Merge technical infrastructure where needed, defining consistent back end and front-end technologies
• Own the early robust build phase of prototypes and lead the transition to iterative development and maintenance
• Explore and pilot new LLM technologies to assess their potential integration into existing architecture
• Provide thought leadership on emerging LLM and AI models and drive experimentation for Borealis use cases
• Perform risk assessments on cloud architectures to identify cost, scalability, and infrastructure management concerns
• Propose opportunities for enhanced operational support of infrastructure through cloud monitoring and testing suites
• Map use cases to leverage existing capabilities and define solutions for new capabilities

Location

• Remote work within the US or Canada, with a preference for candidates in the Greater Vancouver or Greater Seattle area

Education, Experience, and Skills

• Master's or PhD with a technology focus (IT, Computer Science, or related) or a scientific focus (Biology, Chemistry, or related) with at least 15 years of programming and architecture experience in Biotech/Pharma
• Combined 10+ years of experience with AWS and/or LIMS platform management (Dotmatics, Benchling, Genedata, etc.)
• 5+ years of leadership experience
• Proven track record of successfully managing technical projects and leading cross-functional teams
• Advanced proficiency with Python, SQL, R, database design, and at least one front-end development framework (React, Angular, Streamlit, or similar)
• Experience building and maintaining cloud-based applications using core AWS services (IAM, S3, Athena, Lambda, Fargate, Bedrock, OpenSearch, etc.)
• Experience building or enhancing a laboratory informatics system (LIMS) in a research or drug development context
• Experience in large-scale scientific systems design and integration patterns
• Experience working with LLM capabilities including models, RAG approaches, agentic frameworks, and LLM testing frameworks
• Ability to deliver performance evaluations, benchmarking, and troubleshooting of AI or LLM-based applications
• Excellent communication skills and experience translating solution architecture requirements for technical product designers
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced research and technical environment
• Demonstrated independent thinking and commitment to advancing science for patient benefit
• Experience with predictive modeling and preparing data for predictive modeling
• Experience analyzing large public or proprietary biological datasets including transcriptomic and proteomic data
• Experience developing user applications in frameworks like Shiny, React, etc. is a plus
• Experience with therapeutic oligonucleotides (ASO, siRNAs)

Compensation

The annual salary range is $204,000 - $252,000. Borealis Biosciences provides competitive benefits including retirement matching, extended medical, dental, vision, and a Wellness/Health Spending Account. Actual base salary and title/level will be determined based on qualifications.

Equal Opportunity

Borealis is an Equal Opportunity Employer; we prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. We are committed to fostering an environment where ALL people are welcome and supported. We cultivate a culture of openness, creativity, and mutual respect that enables us to be a better team and drive innovation.

remote work

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