QA Engineer Bioinformatics

Bigr.Io - Houston, TX

Full-time

Remote - Houston, TX

About the position

The Bioinformatics QA Engineer at BigRio is responsible for ensuring the quality, accuracy, and performance of bioinformatics pipelines used for biological data analysis. This role involves supporting the testing and validation of Nextflow-based bioinformatics pipelines on a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster, creating qualification documents for pipeline validation, and adhering to internal quality management requirements and standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Responsibilities

• Support testing and validation of NextFlow-based bioinformatics pipeline on HPC
• Develop, execute, and maintain comprehensive test plans and test cases for bioinformatics pipelines, including unit, integration, and system-level tests
• Perform functional, performance, and scalability testing on bioinformatics workflows and software
• Collaborate closely with bioinformatics developers to understand pipeline requirements and ensure the correct implementation of testing strategies
• Validate data outputs for consistency, accuracy, and biological relevance across different datasets
• Review and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g., CLIA, CAP, HIPAA) in bioinformatics workflows
• Analyze and document test results, identify issues, and work with development teams to resolve defects
• Implement version control practices, manage testing environments, and ensure the reproducibility of results
• Support the release process by ensuring bioinformatics software and pipeline updates meet quality standards

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• Experience with bioinformatics pipelines, data analysis, and scientific computing environments
• Proficiency in programming/scripting languages (e.g., Python, R, Bash)
• Strong understanding of software testing methodologies, including automated testing and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with bioinformatics tools and frameworks (e.g., Nextflow, Snakemake, Galaxy)
• Experience with version control systems such as Git and Azure DevOps
• Knowledge of biological data formats (e.g., FASTQ, BAM, VCF) and sequencing technologies
• Experience with statistical analysis or machine learning in a biological context
• Understanding of regulatory standards in clinical bioinformatics (e.g., CLIA, CAP)
• Familiarity with High Performance Computing environments