CB2 Regional Node Coordinator – Atlantic

The Canadian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CB2) Platform is a CIHR-funded
initiative designed to establish a pan-Canadian network of training and community sites in six
provincial regions with the aim to increase bioinformatics, computational biology, and data
science capacity among researchers. Led by Bioinformatics.ca which is currently hosted by the
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), the CB2 Platform will consist of a centralized
platform for the management of bioinformatics, computational biology and health data science
training opportunities. The platform will also coordinate the management of CB2 career
supporting activities including mentorship, professional skill development, awards, and
community-building activities. The CB2 Platform aims to grow CB2 capacity among all health
and life-science researchers, especially Early Career Researchers and equity-deserving
professionals.

Dalhousie University is seeking a Regional Coordinator to take on coordination of the CB2
Platform’s bioinformatics, computational biology and data science training and community
building activities across the Atlantic Provinces. As a national initiative, this high-profile position
will help realize the CB2 Platform’s goals to create an innovative training platform and thriving
bioinformatics, computational biology and data-science community. The role involves identifying
and championing the training needs of the Atlantic region, and bringing innovative training
programs to your entire region and its diversity of audiences, as well as coordinating these
offerings with the platform’s other regions. Training offerings may be from the Canadian
Bioinformatics Workshops, Carpentries or other providers who meet the core requirements of
the CB2 Platform. The role also involves developing and promoting career and community
building activities that extend and support the learning experience beyond the classroom and
engages diverse and underrepresented audiences.

Training Program Management:
● Actively participate in the national coordination of training activities and progress with the
platform’s Training Program Manager and other Regional Training Coordinators to
harmonize activities and strengthen impact;
● Identify training communities within the region, and identify / co-develop programs that
support the educational needs of these communities;
● Support the integration of CB2 with academic programs within the region;
● Manage the regional logistics (e.g. advertising, faculty identification & coordination, cloud
compute, manage participants, prepare prework & logistics) and facilitate the delivery (e.g.
prepare GitHub for materials, secure venue & setup, catering, arrange AV & IT, badges,
certificates, survey, post materials) of the CB2 Platform training offerings across training
sites in your region, whether in-person or virtual, coordinating with other regional
coordinators for distributed events;

Community Program Management:
● Actively participate in the national coordination of career- and community-building activities
and progress with the platform’s Community Program Coordinator and other Regional
Training Coordinators to harmonize activities and strengthen impact;
● Build relationships with existing community groups across your region including
underrepresented audiences to identify their career and community building needs;
● Work with existing community-building programs to enhance and promote their career and
community-building programming. Create new local communities and programming where
there is none using CB2 Platform templates and success models;
● Develop and deliver innovative career and community building programming that elevates
the participation of underrepresented and equity-deserving communities in bioinformatics,
computational biology and data science.

Operational Management:
● Act as the key liaison for regional communication of CB2 Platform training and community
events;
● Manage the regional budget for individual training and community events in the context of
the overall regional budget in keeping with CB2 Platform, stakeholder and institutional fiscal
requirements;
● Seek, author, and submit funding applications to enhance the activities the CB2 Platform
can offer. Seek and establish agreements with sponsors of CB2 Platform training or
community building activities;
● Maintain records of regional training and community-building activities, performance and
impact metrics. Provide comprehensive reports to host institution, funding organizations,
governing bodies, and stakeholders at regular intervals.
● Perform other activities that arise over the course of development and delivery of the CB2
Platform over the coming years.

Required Qualifications:
● You have at a minimum a Master’s degree or equivalent in bioinformatics, computational
biology, genomics or computer science, or recognized equivalent;
● You have excellent English communication skills, written and verbal, to facilitate effective
communications with CB2 Platform stakeholders, collaborators, faculty, training participants
and community members;
● You are highly self-motivated, able to work independently, and work well as a part of a local
and national team;
● You have excellent organizational and time management skills.

Assets:
● Experience in adult learning, teaching, training, public outreach, or planning events in
science. Ability to foresee learner needs, plan ahead and provide a welcoming, supportive
learning environment;
● You are comfortable facilitating and hosting training and community events, delivering
presentations and workshops to scientific and a variety of audiences;
● CIHR, Genome Canada, and/or NSERC grant writing knowledge and experience;
● Excellent computer skills, specifically in Windows, MacOS and Unix/Linux, but also with
conferencing and communication apps, as well as spreadsheet, word processing and
presentation software;
● Experience with R/Rstudio and GitHub.