--- title: 'Principal Bioinformatics Scientist at Veracyte' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-bioinformatics-scientist-veracyte-san-diego-california-qcyz4cxy7ybh' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-05' --- # Principal Bioinformatics Scientist at Veracyte - **Company:** Veracyte - **Location:** San Diego California, United States / South San Francisco California, United States - **Compensation:** $184k–$210k - **Posted:** 2026-09-01 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05 - **Apply:** https://veracyte.com/job-detail?gh_jid=5199037007 ## Job description At Veracyte, we offer exciting career opportunities for those interested in joining a pioneering team that is committed to transforming cancer care for patients across the globe. Working at Veracyte enables our employees to not only make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients, but to also learn and grow within a purpose driven environment. This is what we call the Veracyte way – it’s about how we work together, guided by our values, to give clinicians the insights they need to help patients make life-changing decisions. Our Values: - We Seek A Better Way: We pursue bold ideas, embrace complexity, and keep pushing forward. - We Make It Happen: We act with urgency, deliver with excellence, and always find a way. - We Are Stronger Together: We engage with empathy, align around what's best for Veracyte, and celebrate as one team. - We Care Deeply: We show up with integrity, kindness, and respect for one another. Job Description: We are seeking a highly experienced and motivated Principal Bioinformatics Scientist to lead the bioinformatics strategy, design, and development of next-generation minimal residual disease (MRD) laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). This role is a senior technical leadership position responsible for shaping assay concepts, driving analytical development and validation, and partnering closely with wet-lab, clinical, quality, regulatory, and software teams to deliver robust, clinically actionable MRD diagnostics for multiple indications. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in NGS-based oncology assays, strong understanding of ctDNA biology and a proven track record of industry assay development under design control. This individual will serve as a scientific and technical leader, owning assay bioinformatics from concept through analytical validation and launch. ## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Scientific & Technical Leadership - Lead bioinformatics strategy for MRD assay design, development, optimization, and lifecycle management for LDTs developed under CAP/CLIA quality systems. - Serve as the bioinformatics owner, driving study design, data analysis, performance characterization, and decision-making throughout development. - Apply deep domain knowledge in cancer genomics, ctDNA biology, and NGS technologies to inform assay architecture, variant detection strategies, and error suppression approaches. Assay Development & Validation - Design and execute analytical studies to evaluate assay performance, including accuracy, limit of detection, and reproducibility, in collaboration with wet-lab and biostatistics partners. - Develop, validate, and maintain scalable, production-ready bioinformatics pipelines for MRD analysis, including QC, variant calling, MRD calling logic, and reporting. - Lead benchmarking and optimization of computational methods, including background error modeling, and longitudinal MRD tracking. - Ensure compliance with standards (CAP/CLIA, FDA, IVDR) throughout the bioinformatics development lifecycle, including rigorous testing and documentation. Cross-Functional Collaboration - Partner closely with molecular biology, assay development, QA/RA, clinical, and software engineering teams to ensure bioinformatics solutions are aligned with assay design, regulatory expectations, and operational constraints. - Facilitate successful production pipeline deployment by working closely with infrastructure and engineering teams - Contribute to regulatory submissions and audits by providing technical documentation and validation report, and responses to audits or regulatory inquiries. Mentorship & Influence - Mentor junior scientists by providing technical and scientific guidance, helping raise the overall bar of assay development rigor and execution. - Communicate complex analytical concepts and results clearly to both computational and non-computational stakeholders, including senior leadership. ## REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: - Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Biostatistics, or a closely related quantitative field. - Minimum 8 years of total relevant experience, with at least 5 years of direct industry experience in biotech, diagnostics, or regulated healthcare environments. - Demonstrated experience leading NGS‑based assay development for clinical diagnostics. Hands-on experience with ctDNA-based MRD assays, including personalized or tumor-informed approaches. - Strong programming skills in Python, with experience developing reproducible, production‑grade analysis pipelines, including experience with SDLC best practices. - Proven experience working in design‑controlled, regulated environments (CAP/CLIA LDT, IVD, or equivalent). - Proficiency in development of novel bioinformatics methodologies, and algorithms development, including benchmarking of computational methods. - Track record of working with wet lab scientists on iterative experiment design, execution, analysis, and interpretation as a tightly integrated team. - Demonstrated record of technical and scientific leadership, ownership, and independent work. ## PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: - 1-2 years management experience preferred - Experience developing and deploying bioinformatics workflows in AWS (e.g., EC2, S3, Step Functions, Batch, Lambda, etc.). - Strong understanding of germline and somatic mutation processes leading to complex variation and genome-wide biomarkers with potential clinical utility. - Working knowledge of R. - Experience with relational and non-relational database technologies is a plus. For candidates based in our San Diego office, the range is $184,000 - $204,000. For candidates based in our South San Francisco office, the range is $190,000- $210,000. #LI-Hybrid The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to years of experience, skillset, geographic location, industry, education, etc. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units. Pay range $184,000—$210,000 USD ## What We Can Offer You Veracyte is a growing company that offers significant career opportunities if you are curious, driven, patient-oriented and aspire to help us build a great company. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, and are committed to fostering an inclusive workforce, where diverse backgrounds are represented, engaged, and empowered to drive innovative ideas and decisions. We are thrilled to be recognized as a 2024 Certified™ Great Place to Work® in both the US and Israel - a testament to our dynamic, inclusive, and inspiring workplace where passion meets purpose. ## About Veracyte Veracyte (Nasdaq: VCYT) is a global diagnostics company whose vision is to transform cancer care for patients all over the world. We empower clinicians with the high-value insights they need to guide and assure patients at pivotal moments in the race to diagnose and treat cancer. Our Veracyte Diagnostics Platform delivers high-performing cancer tests that are fueled by broad genomic and clinical data, deep bioinformatic and AI capabilities, and a powerful evidence-generation engine, which ultimately drives durable reimbursement and guideline inclusion for our tests, along with new insights to support continued innovation and pipeline development. For more information, please visit [www.veracyte.com](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.veracyte.com%2F&esheet=54340020&newsitemid=20251015446872&lan=en-US&anchor=www.veracyte.com&index=5&md5=4d48386b00ece1531372e2e593d7cd2d) or follow us on [LinkedIn](https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fveracyte%2F&esheet=54340020&newsitemid=20251015446872&lan=en-US&anchor=LinkedIn&index=6&md5=234cba826cb637f449d2722139f551ef) or https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2Fveracyte%3Fs%3D11&esheet=54340020&newsitemid=20251015446872&lan=en-US&anchor=X+%28Twitter%29&index=7&md5=20ead95735af622bf261b20735515b66. Veracyte, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability status. Veracyte participates in E-Verify in the United States. View our [CCPA Disclosure Notice](https://www.veracyte.com/legal/privacy-statement-for-california-residents/) If you receive any suspicious alerts or communications through LinkedIn or other online job sites for any position at Veracyte, please exercise caution and promptly report any concerns to careers@veracyte.com ## About Veracyte ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Veracyte is a global cancer diagnostics company that develops molecular tests to help clinicians make more informed care decisions by analyzing the unique biology of each patient’s tumor. - **Entity Type**: Public (traded on NASDAQ; ticker not explicitly confirmed in provided sources) - **Headquarters**: South San Francisco, California, United States (with additional high-complexity clinical labs in San Diego, California, and Austin, Texas) - **Founded**: Not publicly available in provided sources - **Founders**: Not publicly available in provided sources ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Cancer diagnostics / molecular genomics / precision oncology - **Target customers**: B2B – clinicians, hospitals, health systems, and laboratory service providers; B2C indirectly through patient care decisions - **Mission statement**: “Transform cancer care for patients all over the world” (from about page) ## Products & Services - **Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier**: A test for thyroid nodules to help avoid unnecessary surgery (SaaS/Service) - **Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier**: The only gene expression test included in the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for prostate cancer (Service) - **Decipher Bladder Genomic Classifier**: A test for bladder cancer to guide treatment decisions (Service) - **Prosigna Breast Risk of Recurrence (ROR) Test**: Recently launched commercially in the U.S. (June 2026) to identify high-risk breast cancer patients who may safely avoid chemotherapy (Service) - **TrueMRD Monitoring Test for MIBC**: Minimal residual disease monitoring for muscle-invasive bladder cancer; secured Medicare coverage in May 2026 (Service) - **Provider Ordering Portal**: Digital platform for clinicians to order Veracyte tests (SaaS) - **Scientific Publications & Evidence Engine**: AI-assisted data mining, multimodality analysis, and bioinformatics to support ongoing test development (R&D platform) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources (public company; financial specifics not included in searched materials) - **Key Metric**: Over 900,000 patients have benefited from Veracyte’s genomic tests across multiple cancer types; more than 600 peer-reviewed publications validate the platform’s clinical utility - **Notable Investors/Partners**: NCCN (Decipher Prostate included in guidelines); collaborators on landmark OPTIMA trial (Prosigna); Medicare (coverage for TrueMRD) - **Growth Signals**: - Commercial launch of Prosigna in the U.S. (June 2026) - Medicare coverage for TrueMRD monitoring test (May 2026) - Three high-complexity clinical labs operating in San Diego, South San Francisco, and Austin - Headcount of over 800 team members serving clinicians and patients globally - Landmark OPTIMA trial results published, demonstrating Prosigna’s ability to identify patients who can safely avoid chemotherapy ## Competitive Advantages - **Evidence depth**: Only gene expression test included in NCCN Guidelines for prostate cancer; >600 peer-reviewed publications - **Multi-cancer portfolio**: Covers thyroid, prostate, breast, bladder, and lung cancer, offering a comprehensive platform for oncology decision-making - **Regulatory & reimbursement momentum**: Recent Medicare coverage for TrueMRD and U.S. commercial launch of Prosigna demonstrate market adoption - **Integrated platform**: Combines genomics, transcriptomics, real-world data, and AI-driven analysis to continuously generate evidence and refine tests ## Strategic Focus - **Geographic and product expansion**: Commercializing the Prosigna test in the U.S. and expanding reimbursement for monitoring tests like TrueMRD - **Real-world evidence generation**: Using their evidence engine (AI, multimodal analysis, bioinformatics) to support new indications and clinical utility - **Platform scalability**: Building a robust diagnostics platform that can be applied to additional cancer types and clinical questions - **Clinical trial partnerships**: Leveraging studies like OPTIMA to validate clinical value and drive guideline inclusion ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Values-driven (“We care deeply,” “We seek a better way,” “We make it happen,” “We are stronger together”); recognized as a Great Place to Work® and listed on Forbes Mid-Cap list - **Work model**: Hybrid/remote options available; positions in labs, offices, field locations, and remote work (as seen on careers page) - **Benefits** (U.S. examples): Medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid time off, parental leave, 401(k) with employer match, employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, Calm app subscription, gym reimbursement, and family care support - **Mission-driven**: Opportunity to directly impact cancer patients’ lives by developing and delivering diagnostic tests that provide clearer answers for clinicians - **Growth opportunities**: Roles span research, clinical development, bioinformatics, lab services, regulatory affairs, data engineering, and more ## Sources 1. [Veracyte Home Page](https://www.veracyte.com/) 2. [Veracyte About Page](https://www.veracyte.com/company/about-veracyte/) 3. [Veracyte Careers Page](https://www.veracyte.com/company/careers/) 4. [Veracyte Working at Veracyte Page](https://www.veracyte.com/company/working-at-veracyte/) 5. 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