Senior Bioinformatician

Job Description

Do you want to be part of a high-tech engineering department responsible for large capital investment projects? Did you always want to work in a company where your work can have a real impact on people’s lives? Are you ready to Invent, Impact, Inspire? We would like to meet you!

We have an exciting new job opportunity at our location in Boxmeer we are looking to hire a

Senior Bioinformatician

Purpose of the role

This role is ideal for an experienced bioinformatician who wants to apply advanced computational biology, genomics, transcriptomics, and data science expertise to meaningful R&D challenges in animal health.

The Senior Bioinformatics Scientist turns biological data into insights for global animal health R&D. Develops reproducible omics workflows and translates scientific questions into robust analyses that accelerate discovery and strengthen reusable capabilities. Focus areas include NGS, transcriptomics, genomics, pathogen and antigen analysis, vaccine prediction, antibody sequencing, antimicrobial resistance, data integration, and AI/ML support.

In this position, will work closely with bioinformatics, IT development teams, science, and AI/ML teams supporting biologics, small-molecule, vaccine, and molecular biology R&D . The requirements/roles are project-dependent and differ from project to project.

Welcome in our team

You will join a fun and dynamic team with the right mindset. In this position, the successful candidate will report to the R&D Informatics product-line lead by working with our vaccine development discovery teams to accelerate research and vaccine development projects. In addition to working alongside a world-class team of scientists in driving R&D activities, the Senior Bioinformatician will also collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across the company’s R&D functions throughout various phases of vaccine development. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in implementing next generation sequencing genome-wide approaches (both RNA and DNA), acting as a consultant and solution architect including AWS cloud computing solutions.

Main responsibilities

• You will collaborate with our animal health vaccine development teams on multiple innovative projects involving comprehensive analyses and integration of omics data using state-of-the-art bioinformatics methods to answer novel scientific questions. Acting as a senior Bioinformatics expert leading analytical workstreams from study design to decision-ready results, including:

• Build and maintain reproducible omics and sequencing workflows.

• Integrate biological data into decision-ready insights.

• Develop methods for vaccine, antigen, pathogen, biomarker, and genomic analysis.

• Ensure robust, traceable results through statistics, visualization, and quality control.

• Translate scientific questions into practical solutions with internal and external partners.

• Promote scalable data, metadata, documentation, version control, and pipeline reuse.

• Prepare and interpret biological data for AI/ML initiatives.

• Communicate findings, risks, and recommendations clearly.

• Guide colleagues and build reusable capabilities.

• Evaluate emerging bioinformatics, compute, and AI/ML technologies.

• Translate business and user needs into proper solutions using the right tools in the High-Performance Clusters (HPC) and Azure Web Services (AWS).

• Proactive coordination and communication between the different business stakeholders, IT developers and the supporting functions across the interdisciplinary team.

• Provide bioinformatics consulting and software training to junior researchers

• Your profile

• MSc or PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Life Sciences, or a related field, with strong expertise in genomics, transcriptomics, and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS).

• Strong applied expertise in bioinformatics and computational biology, including statistical analysis, data visualization, quality control, and biological interpretation of complex datasets.

• Hands-on experience with omics and sequencing data analysis (e.g., WGS, RNA-seq, microbiome, amplicon sequencing, antibody sequencing, comparative genomics, variant interpretation, sequence annotation, and multi-omics integration).

• Proficiency in Python and/or R, including scripting and working in Linux/Unix environments.

• Experience developing reproducible, version-controlled analysis pipelines using workflow managers such as Nextflow or Snakemake, combined with Git, containerization technologies, and cloud or HPC environments.

• Experience translating scientific or business questions into robust analytical solutions and decision-ready insights for stakeholders.

• Good understanding of molecular biology, pathogen biology, vaccine discovery, diagnostics, animal health R&D, or related domains.

• Strong communication, consulting, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and guide less experienced colleagues.

• Self-driven professional with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, capable of independently coordinating projects and evaluating new bioinformatics, data science, and AI/ML technologies.

What we offer

The opportunity to play a key role in driving our team into the future through execution excellence, automation, digitization, and data-enabled continuous improvement. You will join a high-investment, high-impact environment where you can influence strategy, develop people, and help shape the next generation of operational excellence at Boxmeer. In addition, we offer a competitive benefits package that supports your well-being, growth, and long-term success:

• Competitive compensation aligned with your knowledge and experience.
• 3% year-end payment and an annual bonus based on individual and company performance.
• 35,5 days of leave.
• Solid Pension Plan.
• Travel allowance for commuting.
• Numerous training, coaching and e-learning modules for long term job opportunities and development.
• Excellent accessibility: the train station is right by our main entrance and there is ample parking.
• High-quality company restaurant with fresh, healthy options daily.
• Contribution toward your personal sports/fitness membership to support your vitality.
• Beautiful private park on the premises, ideal for a walk, break, or moment of relaxation.
• Mental well-being support via Lyra Health for you and your family members.
• Access to a dedicated prayer/meditation room.

Animal Health

Our Animal Health Division is a trusted global leader in veterinary medicine, dedicated to preserving and improving health, well-being, and performance of animals and the people who care for them. We are a global team of professionals working together to make a positive difference in animal care and the world’s food supply and have a deep sense of responsibility towards our customers, consumers, animals, society, and our planet.

Through our commitment to The Science of Healthier Animals®, we offer veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services as well as an extensive suite of digitally connected identification, traceability and monitoring products. We invest in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. We are present in more than 50 countries, while our products are available in some 150 markets.

For questions about this vacancy

Applications can only be submitted via our careers site.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Required Skills

• Bioconductor, Bioinformatic Analysis, Bioinformatics, Bioinformatics Algorithms, Bioinformatics Software, Biological Data Analysis, Biology, Biostatistics, Business Intelligence (BI), Database Design, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Data Science

Preferred Skills:

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• Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

• Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully

• Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

Employee Status:

• Regular

Relocation:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

• Hybrid

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Job Posting End Date:

• 11/21/2026*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.