Item 2.E–February 10, 2012
ADMINISTRATIVE FACULTY POSITION DESCRIPTION QUESTIONNAIRE
To expedite and facilitate the PDQ review process, please send the PDQ and Org Chart electronically to
marshag@unr.edu for discussion and for initial review before routing PDQ for approval signatures.
Questions - call UNR Faculty HR at 682-6114
INSTRUCTIONS: See http://www.unr.edu/vpaf/hr/compensation/placement.html for complete instructions.
Incumbent(s) Name (if applicable): Vacant /New
Position #(s): 16425
Current Title: Administrator, Bioinformatics Systems
Current Range: 3
(JCC:86843;3B;CM5554;CC161;E)
Department: Nevada IDeA Network of Biomedical
College/Division: Vice President, Research
Research Excellence (INBRE)
Account #(s): 1320-119-15NY
Action Proposed: (check all that apply)
( ) New position: Proposed Range:
Proposed Title:
(X) Title Change, Proposed Title: Analyst, Bioinformatics
(X) Proposed Reassignment from Range 3 to Range 2
( ) Revised PDQ only (no change in range or title)
JCC (Current
( ) Line of Progression (show titles below)
or new HR
Range:
assigned):
I certify that the statements in this description are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.
____________________________________________________________
Employee’s Signature
__________________
Date
I/we have reviewed the statements in this form and they accurately reflect the job assignments.
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Immediate Supervisor’s Signature
Karen Schlauch
Date
Associate Professor and Director, Center of Bioinformatics
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Director/Chair/Dean
James Kenyon
Date
Professor and Director, Nevada INBRE
Approved for Salary Placement Committee review.
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Pres / Vice Pres / Vice Prov Signature Marsha Read
Date
Vice President, Research/Dean, Graduate School
Action Approved by the President (Completed by Faculty HR):
Position #:
EEO Code: 3B
CUPA Code: CM5527
Exempt: Yes or No Census Code: 161
Job Class Code: 67184
Range: 2
Effective Date: 2/1/2012
Approved Title:
ANALYST, BIOINFORMATICS (INBRE)
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Employee Signature
Date
(Employee signs and sends to HR for personnel file after PDQ has been “final” stamped for approval)
Rev: 12/1/2008
Position Description – Analyst, Bioinformatics
Page 2
1. Summary Statement: State the major function(s) of the position and its role in the
university. Attach an organizational chart with positions, ranges, and names for the division
which reflects the position in it as well as those supervised in the department. (This section is
used for advertisement of the position.)
The Nevada IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) is funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) with a mission of building and maintaining biomedical research infrastructure
throughout Nevada. It is a diverse program that supports technology cores, career development,
faculty research, bioinformatics, undergraduate summer research, and student recruitment.
Under the general direction of the Director of the Center of Bioinformatics in the Nevada INBRE at the
University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), the Bioinformatics Analyst develops and supports bioinformatics
tools and services. .
2. List the major responsibilities, including percentage of time devoted to each. Provide
enough detail to enable a person outside the department to understand the job (percentage
first with heading and then bulleted information).
80% - Bioinformatics Tools, Service, Support
• Develops next generation sequencing data pipelines for sequence assembly, alignment,
quality assessment, storage, analyses, and assessment of differential gene expression
• Develops custom bioinformatics tools, software, databases and web interfaces
• Supports the management and analysis of next generation sequencing data including
sequence assembly, alignment, assessment of differential gene expression
• Provides implementation of standard bioinformatics tools and software installation,
maintenance and use thereof; and supplies guidance and consultation in the design of
experiments
• Sets and implements guidelines for the design of experiments using next generation
sequencing
• Continues the development and maintenance of novel and standard gene expression / EST
databases and data mining tools
• Supports the development and deployment of microarray gene expression analysis pipelines
• Supports the director in standard statistical analyses
 Performs monthly library and software updates and ongoing maintenance on the DeCypher
accelerated BLAST server
10% - Independent Research
 Develops and directs project(s) of relevance and interest to Core clients
 Assists in development of new grants and pre-proposals for new research
5% - Technical and General Computational Support
 Provides technical consultation and general computational support in the case that
Bioinformatics System Administrator is unavailable
5% - Supervision / Management
 Manages a possible part-time student employee in the Center, providing student with specific
projects and job duties
Position Description – Analyst, Bioinformatics
Page 3
3. Describe the level of freedom to take action and make decisions with or without
supervision and how the results of the work performed impact the department, division and/or
the university as a whole.
Level of Freedom:
The Bioinformatics Analyst works under the general direction of the Director of the Center of
Bioinformatics who will determine priorities. The incumbent has much freedom to accomplish tasks
within a framework of prescribed procedures and works in an independent role, such as evaluating
and acquiring the necessary software and hardware to perform the project. The incumbent is
expected to plan and execute the work so that deadlines are met. The independent research portion
of the employee’s position is performed with oversight from supervisors.
Impact:
The work produced by the Bioinformatics Analyst directly impacts the genome and next generation
sequencing projects at UNR, which is becoming available to our researchers directly impacts the
quality of research in the Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology departments, as well as these
departments ability to submit competitive proposals seeking outside funding for their research. Other
research departments and graduate programs at UNR and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(UNLV) may be impacted by the work of the Bioinformatics Analyst in addition to personnel from the
entire Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) may be impacted as resources will be readily
available to meet their computational research needs.
4. Describe the knowledge, skills (to include cognitive requirement and verbal and written
communication), and abilities (to include task complexity, problem solving, creativity and
innovation) essential to successful performance of this job (in bullet format).
Knowledge:
 Knowledge of next generation sequencing platforms, methods, and the state-of-the-art tools
for the analysis of next generation sequencing data
 Deep knowledge of molecular biology and typical computational problems within
Bioinformatics subject areas
 Solid Unix/Linux knowledge
 Experience using the Solaris, Red Hat, Fedora, or Debian systems
 Some Experience with Mac OS X and Windows
Skills:
 Sequence assembly, alignment and data analysis skills
 Hands-on experience with next generation sequencing data analysis tools such as Bowtie,
BWA, GSNAP, etc.
 Experience handling next generation sequencing data, and interpreting results from software
such as Alpheus and Bowtie/Cufflinks/Cuffdiff/CummeRbund
 Excellent written and verbal communication
 Analytical and problem-solving skills
 Time management and task management skills
 Excellent interpersonal skills to enable productive analytical interactions with students, staff,
faculty, and student worker
 Programming languages (Shell scripting, R, Perl and/or Python highly preferred)
 User interface (HTML/CSS) skills
Position Description – Analyst, Bioinformatics
Page 4
Ability to:
 Work in a service-oriented multi-disciplinary team
 Communicate effectively with non-technical faculty and staff in discussions of technical
matters
 Meet the needs of internal and external customers campus-wide and multi-institutionally
5. Describe the type of personal contacts encountered in performing the duties of the job.
Explain the nature and purpose of these contacts: i.e., to provide services, to resolve
problems, to negotiate.
Internal
INBRE Faculty, Staff and
Students
UNR Faculty, Staff and Students
Faculty, Staff and Students from
other NSHE Institutions
External
Software and Hardware Vendors
Reason for Contact
To provide bioinformatics support to collaborators and colleagues,
discuss and share computational resources among INBRE
facilities
To provide technical consultation for solving software problems,
develop bioinformatics and computational tools and services
To provide technical consultation for solving software problems,
develop bioinformatics and computational tools and services
Reason for Contact
To help in the installation of software, hardware, equipment and
services, inquire and negotiate about prices for equipment and
software products
6. Indicate the minimum qualifications which are necessary in filling this position should it
become vacant. Please keep in mind the duties/responsibilities of the position rather than the
qualifications of the incumbent.
a.
Minimum educational level, including appropriate field, if any.
Master’s Degree from a regionally accredited institution
b.
Minimum type and amount of work experience, in addition to the above required
education necessary for a person entering this position.
Master’s Degree and two years of experience in fields of biological and computational
sciences
Preferred Licenses or Certifications: None
c.
Indicate any license or certificate required for this position.
None