Physical Sciences Specialist (Bioinformatician)

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request specialized accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Assessment accommodation

Intent of the process

The intention of this selection process is to fill one (1) indeterminate position located in Burlington, Ontario or Montreal, Quebec.

A pool of partially or fully qualified candidates will be established and could be used to staff similar or identical positions with various tenures and various linguistics requirements in Burlington, Ontario or Montreal, Quebec.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

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

EDUCATION
Graduation with a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution, with acceptable specialization in physics, geology, chemistry or some other science relevant to the position.

Note:
The courses for the specialization must be acceptable and must have been taken at a recognized post-secondary institution, but not necessarily within a degree program in the required specialization.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE
E1. Recent and significant* experience in conducting research in toxicology, biology or analytical chemistry.

E2. Experience in treating data originating from advanced analytical instrumentation (such as mass spectrometry), or next generation DNA/RNA sequencing technology, or environmental DNA (eDNA).

E3. Recent and significant* experience in data organization and programming.

E4. Experience providing advice as a specialist in a scientific subject area related to study design, data analysis and results interpretation to scientific professionals, stakeholders as well as briefing material (e.g., briefing notes or presentations) to senior management.

E5. Experience in contributing to the statistical-based design, planning, data analyses and results interpretation of experimental or field research projects.

E6. Experience in preparing and writing scientific manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

* Significant experience acquired in doing normal duties for a period of at least 2 years in the past 5 years.

If you possess any of the following, your application must also clearly explain how you meet it (other qualifications)

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION
Graduation with a Master’s degree (M.Sc.) or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degree from a recognized post-secondary institution in the field of physics, geology, chemistry, biology or some other science relevant to the position.

Degree equivalency

EXPERIENCE
AE1. Experience in analyzing high throughput biological, phylogenetic or chemical data including genomic data, or eDNA data or non-targeted chemical analyses data.

AE2. Experience applying or adapting applications related to toxicogenomics, or whole genome sequencing, or eDNA or non-target chemical data.

AE3. Experience working with Unix systems (including Linux) or high-performance computing with relevant open source bioinformatics tools (including transcriptomics or proteomics or metabolomics).

AE4. Experience with bioinformatics techniques such as assembly, de novo assembly, reference mapping, gene prediction and annotation.

AE5. Experience with Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs).

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

Bilingual - Imperative (BBB/BBB)

Information on language requirements

KNOWLEDGE
K1. Knowledge of theories and practices of toxicology, environmental chemistry or ecology.

K2. Knowledge of the theories and practices of experimental design and environmental sampling.

K3. Knowledge of bioinformatics tools for genomics (including differential and pathway analyses), or DNA/RNA sequencing data, or eDNA data, or non-target chemical data.

K4. Knowledge of open source bioinformatics tools, such as MetaboAnalyst, Trinity, BWA, Bowtie, RSEM, Deseq2, Cufflinks, Cuffdiff, or EBSEQ.

ABILITIES
A1. Ability to use programming language relevant to bioinformatics including R or Python.

A2. Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

A3. Ability to work independently.

A4. Ability to develop and maintain collaborative working relationships with researchers and research teams.

A5. Ability to generate, analyze and interpret scientific data and produce reports/publications.

A6. Ability to manage multiple competing tasks within tight deadlines.

A7. Ability to adapt existing tools for data analysis and data visualization.

COMPETENCIES
- Demonstrate integrity and respect
- Think things through
- Work effectively with others
- Show initiative and be action-oriented

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

ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS

Environment and Climate Change Canada is committed to establishing and maintaining a representative workforce and diversity. This organizational need may be identified as part of the appointment decision. In such cases, qualified candidates who self-declare as members of a visible minority group, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities or women will be considered in priority.

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

*** ONLY ONLINE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ***

HOW TO APPLY:

Applicants are not required to submit a cover letter. Instead, they are required to answer questions and provide information through the electronic application.

As such, when submitting your application to this selection process, you will be required to answer screening questions to demonstrate how you meet the Essential Qualifications (Education and all Essential Experiences) as well as any Asset Qualifications (if applicable).

When answering the screening questions, it is not sufficient to say that you have the required qualifications or to list your current or past responsibilities. Rather, you must provide concrete examples of tasks you have accomplished with significant details to explain the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and HOW you acquired each qualification.

Candidates must also submit a resume with their application. The resume will be used to validate the information provided in the applicant’s answers to the screening questions. It could also be used by the hiring managers for their articulation of their decision.

Should your responses to the screening questions contain insufficient details to demonstrate that you meet the screening criteria, your application will not be given further consideration in this process. Candidates will not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information.

IMPORTANT: Cover letters are NOT required and WILL NOT be considered

Asset qualifications may be used in the screening process. Therefore candidates must clearly demonstrate in their application which of the asset criteria for education and experience they possess.
Depending on the number of applicants, the needs and/or Human Resources plans, volume management strategies such as random selection, top-down approach and/or establishing cut-off scores to determine who will continue in the staffing process, may be used for the purpose of managing applications.

Several methods of assessment may be used to assess potential candidates (written exam, interview, reference check, etc.). Please note that any information provided through this selection process may be considered in the assessment of any of the essential or other qualifications, including the ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Acknowledgment of receipt of applications will not be sent.

Persons are entitled to participate in the selection process in the official language of their choice.

Candidate(s) will be required to provide proof of their education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcript (original documents only). Candidates with foreign credentials must provide proof of Canadian equivalency. Consult the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials for further information at http://www.cicic.ca/.

Our intention is to communicate with the candidates by email. Candidates who apply to this selection process must include in their application a valid email address and make sure that this address is functional at all times and accepts messages from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email).

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans first and then to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

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