We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Product Management Lead for the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), who will be based at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), near Cambridge, UK. This is a varied role providing an opportunity to collaborate with a global community of leaders in genomics, computing and medicine, working toward delivering the full benefit of genomics in healthcare. GA4GH is the international standards setting organisation in human genomics IT which is run as a collaboration between a not-for-profit Canadian company and four Host Institutions: the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and EMBL-EBI.
GA4GH brings together contributors from healthcare, research, patient advocacy, life science, and information technology to create frameworks and standards to enable the responsible, voluntary, and secure sharing of genomic and health-related data. GA4GH standards include file formats for largescale genomic data, services for executing analytical workflows in varied compute environments, models for phenotypic and clinical data capable of integrating with electronic health records, and methods for secure data access.
You will be part of and help manage the globally distributed GA4GH staff team, a matrix organisation of approximately 20 team members. The Product Management Lead has primary responsibility for the processes and practices, which we define to achieve the development of GA4GH products consistent with strategy defined by the GA4GH CEO and Executive Committee. You will define the technical priorities of the organisation, confirm the roadmaps defined by the GA4GH Work Streams, and guide the activities of the broader network of GA4GH volunteers and assigned experts.
As the Product Management Lead, you will be a global leader and a champion for GA4GH standards and policy frameworks, representing the organisation and helping to set the global genomics interoperability agenda. You will ensure that GA4GH is a credible standards development organisation (SDO) in the eyes of regulators, researchers, healthcare, industry, and more. Global professional experience is a priority for the position.
If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you.
Your Role
The Key Duties And Responsibilities Of This Role Include
- Lead the development of GA4GH technical standards and work to support implementation of the standards in the context of strategic priorities and operational plans
- Liaise with security, regulatory, and ethics leadership to ensure alignment between the technical and foundational product roadmaps
- Build peer relationships with leadership in the research, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, and related industries, as well as with other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)
- With guidance from GA4GH senior leadership, opinion leaders, and key stakeholders; describe, maintain, and update a vision for genomic harmonisation, positioning GA4GH as the global leader in genomic standards and policy framework development
- Help guide the genomics community toward a collaborative culture that balances the needs of regulators, GA4GH community members, the clinical community, and other stakeholders so that GA4GH products are broadly accepted and utilised across geographic regions, disease areas, and ethnic groups
- Drive consensus among international colleagues, often by leveraging nuanced conflict resolution skills;
- Serve as a spokesperson and champion for GA4GH with key stakeholders, including clinical, research, and computational audiences, regularly speaking at international conferences and symposia
- Alongside the Director of Strategy and Engagement, support the CEO to ensure GA4GH delivers on its overall commitments to funders and the community
- Help ensure consistency across GA4GH products and processes
- Manage and develop a strong motivated GA4GH staff team at EMBL-EBI
- Establish and maintain critical partnerships with GA4GH’s UK-based host institutions and strategic partners, and their respective communities
- Oversee the UK-based aspects of GA4GH’s international budget
- Serve on boards, colloquia, and committees, both internally and externally representing GA4GH
- Serve as a member of the GA4GH management team, providing clear, accurate, and timely information; listening attentively; engaging with executive committee members; promoting harmony across the distributed staff team; and supporting full execution of the organisation’s Strategic Plan
- Alongside GA4GH's senior management, oversee an internationally distributed staff team of developers, project managers, and policy analysts from diverse backgrounds who take day-to-day direction from mid-level team leads
In all activities and communications, serve as a champion of GA4GH efforts and demonstrate a lasting
commitment to open genomic standards.
You Have
- An MS or PhD (preferred) degree in a technical/bioinformatics/computer science field;
- 10+ years of experience in a relevant field, with a preferred minimum of 5 years of management experience in a distributed, virtual, and/or international environment, with expertise in multiple of the following areas:
- computer science, IT architectures, model-driven architecture, medical/clinical informatics, bioinformatics, genomic sequencing technologies, cloud environments, data security, protected health information privacy;
- 5+ years of experience working in the global genomic environment (industry and/or academic), with knowledge of relevant regulations, standards, and information technology;
- Ability to manage, motivate, and integrate committees and teams to achieve their missions and objectives;
- Knowledge and expertise of standards development processes and the international standards landscape for research and medicine/healthcare;
- Strong social and emotional intelligence;
- Ability to understand, relate to, and be sensitive to different cultures;
- Ability to work effectively with diverse audiences and personalities and diffuse difficult situations with tact and diplomacy;
- Excellent interpersonal, problem solving, organisational, negotiation, decision making, oral/written communications, consensus-building, and meeting facilitation skills;
- Ability to travel internationally, up to 25% of the time, and regularly attend calls outside of typical working hours.
You might also have
- Global leadership experience;
- Experience living or working in multiple countries;
- Sense of humour and ability to bring out a sense of humour in others;
- Comfort with ambiguity;
- Fluency in language(s) other than English;
- In-depth knowledge of and direct implementation experience with GA4GH standards for clinical trial and submission use cases.
Why join us
Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.
Enjoy Lots Of Benefits
- Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
- Flexible working arrangements
- Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
- Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays
- Relocation package including installation grant (if required)
- Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
- Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances
- Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.
For more details please see our employee benefits page
What Else You Need To Know
- Contract duration: This position is a 3 year project based contract, we hope to be able to extend this further however it would be funds dependent.
- International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants.
- Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities.
- EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here.
- Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
- How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system.
