PopVax is an Indian biotechnology company based in Hyderabad. We are funded via research agreements with the Gates Foundation and Vitalik Buterin’s biosecurity company Balvi. For the past year, we have been building a novel second-generation mRNA platform for low-cost broadly-protective vaccines via computationally-driven antigen design, starting with an open-source booster vaccine candidate that is intended to protect against the human-infecting pathogens in the betacoronavirus genus, including current and future strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.

We have seen up close that there are incredible capabilities in vaccine design, testing, and optimization just waiting to be unlocked that will enable us to pursue and perhaps even succeed at realizing wildly ambitious agendas such as ending TB, preventing future pandemics via broadly-protective vaccines, tackling the deadly scourge of antimicrobial resistance, eliminating debilitating degenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis, and curing fiendishly tricky chronic conditions such as ME/CFS and Long COVID. We are initiating multiple new vaccine programs this year to go after a number of these opportunities.

We are seeking an Applied Statistician to join our team in Hyderabad (note: in-person only, we do not offer remote work) to play a key role across our programs. Responsibilities will include:

• Collating and processing diverse, unstructured biological and chemical data produced by PopVax’s scientific teams on a daily basis

• Performing basic statistical analyses such as t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson and Spearman correlations, and generating brief markdown reports 

• Producing data visualisations to fit specific requests 

• Liaising with PopVax’s scientific teams to improve and optimize data reporting methods and formats

The ideal candidate will have:

• Thorough theoretical understanding of Probability and Statistics

• A degree in Statistics, Data Science, Applied Mathematics or a similar quantitative field

• Excellent proficiency with R or Python

• Familiarity using R packages such as dplyr, ggplot2 and shiny or Python packages such as pandas, scipy, matplotlib, seaborn and plotly

• At least 2 years of experience with data processing and visualisation

• A demonstrated ability to produce clean data reports and visualisations especially using markdown-based tools like Rmd and Quarto

• A willingness to handle relatively large volumes of unstructured and poorly annotated data, working quickly on often-tight deadlines

• Basic understanding of machine learning techniques such as regression, decision trees, clustering and dimensionality reduction

We offer very competitive compensation, comprehensive health insurance covering immediate family (including pre-existing conditions), and, most importantly, a collaborative work environment focused on solving the cutting-edge multidisciplinary challenges of our novel mRNA platform.