Senior Bioinformatician

We Are Redefining How People Approach Their Health

ZOE is the science and nutrition company on a mission to improve the health of millions. ZOE changes lives through its membership, which combines personalised advice and support to help people make smarter food choices every day. Created by the world’s top scientists, ZOE’s approach has been proven through clinical trials published in Nature Medicine. We are a remote-first, high-growth scaleup backed by founders and investors who have built multi-billion dollar companies and share our vision. Running the world’s largest nutrition science study allows us to combine our novel research with cutting-edge AI to support over 120,000 members.

We passionately believe in giving people the information they need to feel better today and live longer and healthier lives. We extend our industry leading influence through publishing our research in the world’s leading scientific journals, and bringing advice to millions through our social media channels and our chart-topping ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast.

Our team of ZOEntists is at the heart of everything we do. Together, we’re building a culture rooted in ownership, inclusivity and transparency, where ZOEntists are passionate about delivering great results, having an impact, and learning quickly in the open. We want our teams to have the freedom to make long-term, high-impact decisions, and the well-being of our teammates and the people around us is a top priority.

Visit our career page to learn more.

About the team

The Science team is a diverse one. Our members work across multiple disciplines to combine varied skill sets, materials and knowledge bases to answer scientific questions. We are able to work at pace to run large-scale scientifically rigorous studies to advance science in the fields of nutrition, microbiome, health & lifestyle, as well as translate & apply our findings within the ZOE product, to drive improved health outcomes for our members.

We are a team of problem solvers who take pride in being able to consider the details and the big picture equally. We are able to adapt to different timelines, support requests from cross-functional teams as well as drive our research agenda forward through strategic partnerships & external collaborations. Our team is innovative, driven and passionate about ZOE’s mission to improve the health of millions. Come join us!

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced, data fluent, & impact oriented Senior Bioinformatician with a good working knowledge of gut microbiome, human nutrition, epidemiology and dietary assessment, to be part of our ZOE Science research group.

Reporting to the Head of Nutrition Science Research, you’ll be a key part of the science team shaping our research agenda. You’ll have the opportunity to design & run new groundbreaking studies with our academic collaborators from world class universities, with a special focus on the interplay between diet, lifestyle & the gut microbiome.

You’ll benefit from working with a team of incredible scientists that lead research in the field of nutrition & health, the outcomes of which are published in high-impact journals such as Nature Medicine.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of research studies, conduct analysis and write-up data from trials investigating the interplay between diet, lifestyle and the gut microbiome
• Proposing & analysing research questions to investigate associations with the gut microbiome using data from the ZOE research platforms
• Curation of datasets from ZOE research studies, including data from observational cohorts (PREDICT studies) and randomised controlled trials
• Advance ZOE science by leading high-impact collaborations with research partners
• Work with ZOE product and technology teams to build and implement microbiome related product features based on our latest scientific research (e.g. implementation of MetaPhlAn, HUMAnN pipelines, and any new product features relating to gut microbiome, diet and health)
• Communicate our scientific findings across ZOE teams (product, technology, marketing, customer service, operations, academic partners), with a special focus on advancing our in-house microbiome knowledge
• Contribute to the dissemination of research through high-impact publications and public engagement activities
• Coach junior team members on scientific analysis methods

Essential criteria

• PhD awarded in bioinformatics, biostatistics, nutrition & epidemiology, or other related quantitative discipline with at least 2-3 years postdoctoral research experience
• Demonstrable record of publications in peer-reviewed conference proceedings/ scientific journals
• Statistical analysis skills relevant for analysing data collected from large observational cohorts and randomised controlled trials, including expertise in using statistical software (e.g., R, Python, SAS, SPSS) and data platforms (e.g. SQL, dbt, BigQuery)
• Ability to take ownership and project manage studies/ lead team initiatives to pre-agreed deadlines and budgets
• Ability to communicate effectively at all levels in a complex multi-disciplinary environment with the ability to produce concise verbal and written reports

Desirable criteria

• 2-3 years of professional working experience in health-tech, consumer health, wellness or life-sciences industries
• Ability to lead, inspire & mentor teams of junior or peer scientists to deliver RCTs or initiatives focussed on the analysis of ZOE microbiome & diet/ lifestyle data

These are the ideal skills, attributes, and experience we’re looking for in this role. Don’t worry if you don’t tick all the boxes, especially on the skills and experience front, we’re happy to upskill for the right candidate.

Life as a ZOEntist – what you can expect from us:

As well as industry-benchmarked compensation and all the hardware and software you need, we offer a thoughtfully-curated list of benefits. We expect this list to evolve as we continue supporting our team members’ long-term personal and professional growth, and their wellbeing.

Remote-first: Work flexibly – from home, our London office, or anywhere within the EU

Stock options: So you can share in our growth

Paid time off: 28 days paid leave (25 holiday days, plus 2 company-wide reset days, and 1 “life event” day)

Enhanced Parental Leave: On top of the statutory offering

Flexible private healthcare and life assurance options

Pension contribution: Pay monthly or top up – your choice.

Health and wellbeing: Like our Employee Assistance Program and Cycle to Work Scheme

Social, WFH, and Growth (L&D) budgets. Plus, multiple opportunities to connect, grow, and socialise

We’re all about equal opportunities

We know that a successful team is made up of diverse people, able to be their authentic selves. To continue growing our team in the best way, we believe that equal opportunities matter, so we encourage candidates from any underrepresented backgrounds to apply for this role. You can view our Equal Opportunities statement in full here.

A closer look at ZOE Think you’ve heard our name somewhere before? We were the team behind the COVID Symptom Study, which has since become the ZOE Health Study (ZHS). We use the power of community science to conduct large-scale research from the comfort of contributors’ own homes. Our collective work and expertise in biology, engineering, and data/nutrition science have led to multiple breakthrough papers in leading scientific journals such as Nature Medicine, Science, The Lancet, and more.

Seen ZOE in the media recently? Catch our co-founder Professor Tim Spector (one of the world’s most cited scientists) and our Chief Scientist Dr Sarah Berry on this BBC Panorama, and listen to CEO Jonathan Wolf unpack the latest in science and nutrition on our ZOE podcast.

Oh, and if you’re wondering why ZOE? It translates to “Life” in Greek, which we’re helping ZOE members enjoy to the fullest.