Senior Biologist - Microbial Genetics

Important messages

***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Persons interested must submit, by the closing date, a complete application consisting of a covering letter AND a résumé supporting the information provided in the cover letter. Candidates must clearly demonstrate IN THEIR COVER LETTER how they meet the Essential Education and Essential Experience criteria as well as assets if applicable. The education and experience factors that appear on the Statement of Merit as headings in your cover letter. Under each heading you must write no more than two paragraphs that state exactly how you meet the education and experience factors. You must state clearly where and when you obtained the education and experiences, including the educational institution, and by identifying the employer(s) or organization(s) where you obtained the required experience factors, as well as concrete examples demonstrating your experiences. Failure to follow these instructions may result in your application being rejected. **

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR COVER LETTER WILL EVALUATE YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY IN WRITING.

Intent of the process

Although the immediate intent of this Job Opportunity Advertisement is to staff indeterminately, applicants should be aware that a pool of qualified candidates (fully assessed or partially assessed) may be established and may be used to staff similar positions at this group and level with various language requirements listed in the Language Requirements section. In addition, this process may be used for various tenures (acting appointments, assignment, deployment, indeterminate, specified period, secondment), security requirements and conditions of employment within Health Canada.

As a result of the potential and possible use of the selection process and subsequent pool by hiring managers, we encourage all employees seeking this type of opportunity to apply.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 5,000 words (maximum)

You must meet all essential qualifications in order to be appointed to the position. Other qualifications may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. Some essential and other qualifications will be assessed through your application. It is your responsibility to provide appropriate examples that illustrate how you meet each qualification. Failing to do so could result in your application being rejected.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

Graduation from a recognized post-secondary institution with an acceptable Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) (with a specialization in a field relevant to the duties of the position, such as microbiology, molecular biology, or microbial genetics.

Degree equivalency

Significant* and recent** experience in planning and conducting research projects relevant to genetic sequencing and comparative genomics of microbial agents.
Significant* and recent** experience in producing scientific protocols, reports, or manuscripts related to genetic sequencing and comparative genomics of microbial agents.
Significant* and recent** experience in using next generation sequencing systems and equipment.
Significant* experience in culturing and extracting DNA and RNA from foodborne microbial agents.

*For the purpose of this process, significant experience is defined as the depth and breadth of experience that would normally be acquired over a period of two (2) years or more.

** For the purpose of this process, recent experience is defined as within the past five (5) years.

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

Various language requirements
English Essential (Immediate need)
Bilingual imperative BBB/BBB
Bilingual Imperative CBC/CBC

Information on language requirements

Knowledge of the principles and techniques used in isolation, cultivation, and characterization of microbial agents.
Knowledge of microbial genome analysis techniques such as assembly, reference mapping, and annotation.
Knowledge of next generation sequencing technologies.

Ability to communicate effectively orally.
Ability to communicate effectively in writing.
Ability to research, analyse, and synthesize complex information to provide scientific and technical advice to management.
Ability to work independently.
Ability to lead multi-disciplinary scientific teams or working groups.

Initiative
Judgement
Effective interpersonal relationships
Thoroughness
Respect of diversity

Security requirement:
Enhanced (reliability)

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Postdoctoral research experience in a field relevant to the duties of the position such as microbiology, molecular biology or microbial genetics.

Experience providing scientific advice, training or technical assistance related to next generation sequencing (NGS) to laboratory staff.

Experience manipulating, analysing, and assembling microbial next generation sequencing data.

Experience in the isolation and characterization of microbial agents from food matrices.

Experience in working in a LINUX, UNIX-like environment and with the most relevant LINUX-based open source bioinformatics tools.

Other information

It is recommended that you carefully review your submitted application prior to the closing date to ensure all information is accurate and complete, including contact information, text question responses, screening question responses, etc. Health Canada is not responsible for any incorrect or incomplete application information.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

Candidates will not be solicited for incomplete or possibly missing information.

For this selection process, we may find that email is the most efficient way to communicate with you. Candidates who apply to selection processes should include an email address that accepts email from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email). It is the candidates' responsibility to inform us of a change of contact information during the course of this selection process and to regularly verify your incoming e-mails.

Candidates must meet the essential qualifications to be appointed to a position. Candidates may be required to meet the asset qualifications or the organizational needs, depending on the requirements of the specific position being staffed. Meeting one or many of the asset qualifications may be a deciding factor in appointing a particular candidate amongst the qualified candidates. Please note that some or all of the asset qualifications could be used at the screening phase.

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR RESPONSES TO THE COVER LETTER WILL EVALUATE YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY IN WRITING.

Candidates must provide their proof of education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcripts (original documents only) at a later time in the process.

If you required technical support to apply for this position, please contact jobs.gc.ca at: http://emplois-jobs.gc.ca/centres/contact-contactez/index-eng.php

Please note that candidates are responsible for submitting their application by the closing date in order to be considered. No applications will be accepted once the deadline has passed.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The PSRS system will time out after 60 minutes on inactivity which may result in your inability to save your work or loss of data. It is recommended that you draft ALL RESPONSES in another document on your PC which may be saved (e.g. in MS Word or WordPerfect) and copy/paste into the PSRS system when completed. HEALTH CANADA IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SYSTEM PROBLEMS WHICH MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF DATA AND/OR INCOMPLETE OR NON SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS.

We will only accept on-line applications received via the jobs.gc.ca site. Do not e-mail, fax, or mail in hard copy documents.

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce reflective of Canadian society. As a result, it promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a member of a visible minority group.

The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.