The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health. NLM is a global leader in biomedical informatics and computational health data science and the world’s largest biomedical library. NLM’s legislative mandate is to support the essential work of acquiring, organizing, preserving, and disseminating biomedical information. NLM provides public access to this information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

NLM Division: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

NLM Program/Office: Information Engineering Branch (IEB)

Application Period: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Overview: The NCBI Taxonomy team, located in the Information Engineering Branch, is looking for an outstanding candidate with extensive experience in taxonomic database curation.

Position Description/Responsibilities:

The NCBI Taxonomy team provides a curated classification and correct nomenclature for all organisms represented in GenBank and its partners in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC). The activities of the NCBI Taxonomy team are reflected in nearly all NCBI sequence data resources, including BLAST, Gene, SRA, RefSeq, GEO, and NCBI Datasets, as well as in numerous data resources external to NCBI.

Taxonomic database curation includes verifying taxon names, ensuring that they are nomenclaturally correct, and their classification is consistent with current knowledge. This activity involves frequent interactions with software developers on the team, as well as other NCBI teams who use the outputs of NCBI Taxonomy, sequence data submitters, and members of international research communities.

The incumbent will be responsible for:

• Verifying, correcting, classifying, and adding green plant and algae names (and other groups, as necessary) to the NCBI Taxonomy database
• Review of the taxonomic literature to identify curation needs and opportunities
• Outreach to relevant communities
• Communicating curation needs to software developers

Position Requirements

The ideal candidate may or may not be a United States citizen.

We are looking for an individual with:

• A Ph.D. in a quantitative field, such as Biology, centered on Botany, with experience in Phycology desirable
• A broad knowledge of botanical nomenclature and the latest taxonomic literature
• A strong track record in research as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications
• Familiarity with phylogenetic systematics
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently as well as a part of a team in support of shared objectives
• Proven ability to work on interdisciplinary projects not directly related to their training
• Demonstrated experience in directing and coordinating complex research and development projects
• Exposure to commonly used scripting languages used by biologists, such as R and Python
• Basic experience in taxonomic and general data management including some familiarity with general bioinformatics formats such as JSON and XML

Education Requirements

Candidates should have a Ph.D. or equivalent from an accredited college in a biomedical science or related discipline.

Foreign Education
Applicants who have completed part or all their education outside of the United States must have their foreign education evaluated by an accredited organization to ensure that the foreign education is equivalent to education received in accredited educational institutions in the United States. We will only accept the completed foreign education evaluation. For more information on foreign education verification, visit the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) website. Verification must be received prior to the effective date of the appointment.

Salary and Benefits:

This non‐competitive appointment in the excepted service is like a federal full‐time position. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. A full package of benefits is available.

How to Apply

Interested individuals should send a copy of their CV with the names of three references along with a cover letter detailing experience developing and managing biological sequence‐related resources and evidence of engagement in external collaborations related to the curation, analysis, or display of biomedical data to ncbijobs@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Please include the announcement number, NLM4737-2023, in the cover letter. Do not include your birth date, social security number (SSN), or personal photograph on application materials.

Contact Information: Melissa M. Kopyto

HHS, NIH, and NLM are equal opportunity employers.

Last Reviewed: December 14, 2023