Data Scientist II

Axle is a bioscience and information technology company that offers advancements in translational research biomedical informatics and data science applications to research centers and healthcare organizations nationally and abroad. With experts in biomedical science software engineering and program management we focus on developing and applying research tools and techniques to empower decision-making and accelerate research discoveries. We work with some of the top research organizations and facilities in the country including multiple institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Benefits We Offer:

• 100% Medical Dental & Vision Coverage for Employees
• Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
• 401K match up to 5%
• Educational Benefits for Career Growth
• Employee Referral Bonus
• Flexible Spending Accounts:
  • Healthcare (FSA)
  • Parking Reimbursement Account (PRK)
  • Dependent Care Assistant Program (DCAP)
  • Transportation Reimbursement Account (TRN)

We are seeking a Data Scientist II to join our vibrant team supporting the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the NIH in Rockville MD. This role is embedded within NCIs Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT) where you will directly advance cancer research by building the computational infrastructure that scientists depend on every day.

You will support the full omics data lifecycle across a broad spectrum of modalities including bulk RNA-seq single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) spatial transcriptomics Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) whole genome and exome sequencing (WGS/WES) metagenomics metabolomics and proteomics as well as clinical imaging and biospecimen data. A core part of this role involves developing workflows that integrate these modalities to support systems-level biological questions cross-cohort studies and NCI CBIIT initiatives.

You will collaborate closely with NCI scientists bioinformaticians clinician-researchers data engineers software developers and government stakeholders to ensure analytical infrastructure is FAIR-compliant containerized version-controlled well-documented and purpose-built for long-term reuse across the research community.

Key Responsibilities

• Bioinformatics Workflow and Data Pipeline Development: Design build and maintain reproducible pipelines for diverse biomedical data types including genomic transcriptomic single-cell spatial proteomic metagenomic metabolomic and clinical datasets. Develop reusable transformation logic and curated datasets supporting analytics dashboards APIs notebooks and downstream research workflows.

• Multi-Omics Analysis: Support NCI CBIIT labs in their analysis workflows including bulk RNA-seq (QC DEG GSEA) single-cell RNA-seq (clustering UMAP/t-SNE cell type annotation DEG) and Digital Spatial Profiling (annotation QC normalization spatial deconvolution volcano plots heatmaps).

• Data Integration and Lifecycle Support: Enable reliable data movement from source systems into structured analysis-ready formats. Support ingestion curation metadata capture source-to-target mapping schema management provenance tracking and long-term maintainability of data products.

• Statistical Modeling and Machine Learning: Apply statistical and ML methods including hypothesis testing regression clustering PCA UMAP t-SNE and classification to biomedical datasets. Incorporate AI/LLM-based extraction where appropriate with clear validation and communication to stakeholders.

• Researcher-Facing Applications and Visualization: Build and support interactive dashboards (Shiny Streamlit) notebooks reports and APIs enabling researchers to explore multi-omics and clinical data. Support figure generation for QC differential expression pathway and spatial analyses.

• Collaboration: Partner with data scientists bioinformaticians researchers developers and government stakeholders to translate scientific needs into technical specifications data models and reusable workflows that accelerate biomedical research.

Required Qualifications

• Education & Background: Bachelors degree in Data Science Bioinformatics Computer Science Biological Sciences or a related field (advanced degree preferred) or equivalent experience. Demonstrated experience in a data-intensive role supporting biomedical research or scientific computing.

• Data Science and Bioinformatics Expertise: Strong proficiency in Python and R for analysis scripting and visualization. Hands-on experience with at least two omics data types (e.g. bulk RNA-seq scRNA-seq spatial transcriptomics proteomics metagenomics GWAS).

• Analytical Skills: Solid understanding of statistical modeling dimensionality reduction clustering differential expression and pathway analysis. Ability to work with structured semi-structured and unstructured data across relational and data lake environments.

• Collaboration & Communication: Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to communicate effectively across technical and non-technical audiences. Able to translate scientific needs into technical solutions and clearly articulate risks assumptions and limitations.

• Domain Alignment: Genuine interest in biomedical and translational research. Ability to quickly learn domain-specific terminology and workflows with awareness of data governance privacy and compliance requirements for clinical and research data.

Preferred Qualifications

• Data Platform Experience: Experience building analytics solutions in platforms such as Snowflake Databricks or cloud data warehouses with integrations across databases APIs dashboards and application environments.

• Bioinformatics Workflow Tooling: Experience with workflow and reproducibility tools used in Galaxy Terra Nextflow/WDL Snakemake Singularity or CWL. Familiarity with the scverse Python ecosystem (Scanpy Squidpy SCIMAP AnnData) and spatial single-cell analysis methods including PhenoGraph Louvain/Leiden clustering UMAP and Ripleys L statistic is a plus.

• Research and Application Enablement: Experience preparing curated datasets for dashboards APIs and web applications. Familiarity with Posit Connect R/Shiny Streamlit Jupyter or similar platforms is a plus.

• Cloud HPC Storage and Automation: Experience with AWS (EC2 S3 Lambda) object storage relational databases scheduled jobs API integrations and secure data movement. Familiarity with HPC environments SLURM/SGE or NIH Biowulf is preferred.

• Biomedical Domain Knowledge: Background in biomedical research clinical research or healthcare analytics. Familiarity with standards such as HL7/FHIR CDISC or OMOP and experience with clinical genomic or biospecimen data is a plus.

• Governance and Reproducibility: Experience with metadata management data lineage open-source code release containerized analyses and secure handling of de-identified or access-controlled research datasets.

• Training and Scientific Enablement: Experience creating documentation training materials or workshops for researchers and non-coder audiences. Ability to support tool adoption and explain workflows and results clearly is strongly preferred.

Disclaimer: The above description is meant to illustrate the general nature of work and level of effort being performed by individuals assigned to this position or job description. This is not restricted as a complete list of all skills responsibilities duties and/or assignments required. Individuals may be required to perform duties outside of their position job description or responsibilities as needed.

The diversity of Axles employees is a tremendous asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal discrimination or harassment based on age race gender religion national origin disability marital status covered veteran status sexual orientation status with respect to public assistance and other characteristics protected under state federal or local law and to deter those who aid abet or induce discrimination or coerce others to discriminate.

Accessibility: If you need an accommodation as part of the employment process please contact:

This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range listed below. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidates experience qualifications skills and location.

Disclaimer: The above description is meant to illustrate the general nature of work and level of effort being performed by individuals assigned to this position or job description. This is not restricted as a complete list of all skills responsibilities duties and/or assignments required. Individuals may be required to perform duties outside of their position job description or responsibilities as needed.

The diversity of Axles employees is a tremendous asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal discrimination or harassment based on age race gender religion national origin disability marital status covered veteran status sexual orientation status with respect to public assistance and other characteristics protected under state federal or local law and to deter those who aid abet or induce discrimination or coerce others to discriminate.

Accessibility: If you need an accommodation as part of the employment process please contact:

This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range listed below. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidates experience qualifications skills and location.

#IND

Salary Range

$130000 - $145000 USD