Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland

Our mission and values place a strong emphasis on both our student body and our scholarly community, and we work with both community and enterprise to advance the well-being of the peoples of Auckland and New Zealand, with a clear commitment to pursuing sustainability.

The Liggins Institute is a large-scale research institute at the University of Auckland. For over two decades, researchers at the Liggins Institute have shown that events during or immediately prior to pregnancy can have an impact on an individual’s lifelong health. We are one of the world’s leading centres for research on fetal and child health, nutrition, development, epigenetics, and translational and implementation science.

Our vision is ‘a healthy start for a healthy life' and our mission is to improve lifelong health through excellent research into the long-term consequences of early life events.

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The opportunity

The Liggins Institute is establishing the Cerebral Palsy project, a precision medicine initiative based on whole genome sequencing for individuals with cerebral palsy. We will initially screen for ~ 250 mutations and then take a whole-of-genome approach, incorporating our long-read research pipeline, developed through our acute care genetics experience. Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques will be used to align genotype with phenotype.

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to join our team at The Liggins Institute, to contribute to the curation and bioinformatics component of the Cerebral Palsy project. You will be responsible for conducting research and analysis agreed on with the Cerebral Palsy project Principal Investigator (PI) according to standard protocol and procedures, and in keeping with ethical requirements.

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), fixed term (up to 36 months duration) opportunity

The salary range for this role is $90,405 - $95,179 based on skills and experience

For more detailed information, please refer to the Position Description

Mō tō mātou rōpū | About the team

In the Liggins Institute, you will enjoy a close-knit, high performing culture, driven by a shared vision to understand how early life events impact lifelong health. As Liggins Institute former Director Professor Frank Bloomfield said, one of the great things about working at the Liggins Institute is that it “feels like a family”. In addition, you will enjoy working with some high-profile Researchers and contribute to research that is truly life changing for future generations

He kōrero mōu | About you

Our ideal candidate will work efficiently in a multi-disciplinary team, displaying initiative and high levels of organisational skills. To be successful in this role, you will have:

• A Doctoral qualification in a relevant field, and a background in genomics, curation, bioinformatics or bio-statistics.
• Experience of high-performance computing (e.g. google cloud), and programming skills in Perl, Python, or equivalent languages.
• Documented previous experience with analysis of high-throughput large-scale datasets.
• Experience working with large genomic, eQTL, and chromatin datasets.
• Strong skills with quantitative research methods.
• Experience working with Linux-based operating systems
• Expertise and extensive research capabilities in SNP functional assignment

Ngā āhuatanga kei a mātou | What we offer

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university and maintains significant computational, laboratory and analytic facilities. Auckland itself is frequently rated as one of the world’s most liveable cities. The University is committed to providing an excellent working environment through:

• Flexible employment practices (including working from home, flexible hours)
• Up to 6.75% company superannuation scheme
• A competitive salary with five weeks’ annual leave

In addition, we also offer career development programmes, discounted car parking, a generous parental leave allowance, childcare and a number of other discounts on internal and external services. 

For more information, please visit Staff Benefits

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply

Applications must be submitted online, by the closing date of 14 November 2025 to be considered. Please include your cover letter and your CV highlighting how you can meet the skills and experiences detailed above.

*We reserve the right to close applications early if a suitable candidate is found*

Please reach out to Justin O’Sullivan via [email protected] for a confidential conversation. Please note we are happy to answer your questions, but we do not accept applications by email.

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Equity

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students in a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment.  For further information on services for Māori, Pacific, women, LGBTQIATakatāpuiMVPFAFF+, people with disabilities, parenting support, flexible work and other personal circumstances go to www.equity.auckland.ac.nz