Job Description

Staff - Non Union
Job Category Non Union Technicians and Research Assistants
Job Profile Non Union Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 3
Job Title Research Assistant/Technician 3
Department Research | Jefferies | Michael Smith Laboratories | Faculty of Science
Compensation Range $4,567.04 - $5,385.67 CAD Monthly
Posting End Date January 25, 2026
Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.
Job End Date January 31, 2027
At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.
Job Summary
The Research Technician will contribute to nucleotide-based vaccine and therapeutic research through wet lab experimentation and computational genomics analysis. The position requires both molecular biology skills and bioinformatics expertise.
Organizational Status
Reports to the Principal Investigator and is supervised by senior researchers in the lab. Communicates regularly with an interdisciplinary team of scientists.
Work Performed
Experimental Research
Assists senior lab members with experimental design, and conducts experiments as part of the lab's research projects
Develops and performs immunological assays
Analyzes and interprets experiment results and troubleshoots problems as needed
Conducts molecular biology techniques such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, RT-qPCR, DNA and RNA isolation, DNA sequencing, molecular cloning and recombinant DNA technology
Prepares samples for next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, single-cell sequencing, whole genome sequencing)
Cultures mammalian cell lines using various established and experimental methods, and conducts high efficiency transformations, cellular genomic DNA extractions, growth curves and plate-based growth assays, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and enzyme assays
Performs viral and bacterial work as required
Bioinformatics and Genomics
Processes and analyzes next-generation sequencing data
Performs genome assembly, variant calling, SNP/indel analysis, structural variant detection
Conducts differential gene expression analysis, pathway enrichment, gene ontology analysis
Uses alignment tools, performs motif finding, designs primers and guides, annotates sequences
Implements and optimizes bioinformatics workflows and pipelines
Integrates multi-omics data with immunological and phenotypic data
Applies statistical methods to genomic and experimental datasets
Develops scripts for data processing and quality control
Creates figures integrating genomic and experimental data
Laboratory Operations
Orders stock and reagents, procures equipment, performs general maintenance around the lab and safety tasks
Prepares reagents, solutions, and related material for routine laboratory use
Organizes and maintains sequencing data, analysis code, and bioinformatics outputs
Manages data storage and backup protocols
Searches, reads and interprets research literature
Presents research results at laboratory meetings
Documents and communicates experimental plans and results in various formats
Maintains laboratory notebooks (e.g. bound paper and/or electronic notebook) and files on all experiments and procedures performed
Assists the lab manager in performing tasks such as lab organization, purchasing supplies and procurement of small equipment
Trains undergraduate students, new and lower level technicians on lab standard protocols and procedures, equipment and bioinformatic tools
Maintains a clean and orderly working environment in the lab
Contributes to figures and written work for publication, grant applications and presentations
Carries out any other related duties as required in keeping with the qualifications and requirements of positions in this classification
Consequence of Error/Judgement
Attention to detail and exercising judgement are essential. The Research Technician will be responsible for reporting errors or problems in their work in a timely manner, and participates in a resolution to correct those errors. Improperly conducted procedures may warrant the repetition of experiments affecting the timeline of the research project and wasting of resources.
Supervision Received
Works under general supervision, carries out day-to-day tasks in collaboration with other Technicians, Students, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates in the lab. Receives guidance from the Principal Investigator in weekly meetings to ensure priorities are met. Will receive instructions on unusual problems or on matters which depart significantly from established procedures.
Supervision Given
This position has no supervisory responsibilities. The Research Technician will work as part of a team and may train and advise students on various techniques.
Minimum Qualifications
Completion of a relevant technical program or a university degree in a relevant discipline and a minimum three years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
Preference will be given to candidates holding a Master's degree in the field of biology, microbiology, immunology, or related area of study. Demonstrated experience in NGS data analysis, programming (Python, R, Bash), molecular biology, microscopy, flow cytometry, statistical analysis, and biochemistry. Proper data management and reproducible analysis practices are required.
Skills
Computational:
Proficiency in R and/or Python
Experience with Bash scripting
Familiarity with bioinformatics tools such as BLAST, Bowtie2, STAR, samtools, bcftools, bedtools, GATK, DESeq2, edgeR
Experience with sequence analysis platforms (UCSC Genome Browser, IGV, Galaxy)
Git/GitHub for code management
Working knowledge of NCBI, Ensembl, UCSC, UniProt, and other genomic databases
Additional assets: Experience with high-performance computing clusters or cloud computing, bioinformatics workflow managers (Snakemake, Nextflow)
Software:
MS Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive
GraphPad Prism or equivalent statistical software
BioRender, Adobe Acrobat
RStudio, Jupyter notebooks, or similar
Laboratory:
Molecular biology techniques (PCR, cloning, sequencing)
Cell culture (mammalian, bacterial)
Immunological assays
Flow cytometry and microscopy
NGS library preparation
Other Skills
Maintains accuracy and attention to detail
Identifies problems and contributes to solutions
Effective oral and written communication skills
Effective interpersonal, multi-tasking, time-management, and organizational skills
Initiative in collaborating on setting priorities and meeting deadlines
Flexibility and responsiveness to changing needs
Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment

Skills Required