Wrangling the right talent to tackle big data can be tough

Print 08 August 2016
Michael Fitzhugh / BioWorld

The NIH has a serious problem, and it's not alone. Even as big datasets driving new threads of biomedical progress proliferate, a critical shortfall is showing up in another realm: "There is a desperate need for individuals who can develop creative approaches to bioinformatics problems." the NIH told members of the National Science and Technology Council last year.

A survey by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry flagged similar concerns, with more than half of respondents identifying bioinformatics, statistics, data mining and health informatics as areas in which immediate action was required to address difficulties in recruitment. Such experts are in high demand and, often, too short supply.

"Data scientist" is one of the hottest jobs in the labor market right now, Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist for the jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor, told BioWorld Insight. The role was recently named the No. 1 Best Job in America by Glassdoor because of the sheer number of job openings — more than 1,700 in January — high career opportunity ratings and high median base pay, at $116,840, he said.

But while demand for the job has grown, putting job seekers in good stead, "the hiring landscape is tough for companies hiring data scientists," Chamberlain said. Nowhere is that more true than in Silicon Valley and its surroundings, where internet giants such as Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. seek to employ data wonks in nearly every aspects of their operations, from advertising to virtual reality, not to mention in biotech-specific roles, as is the case for a computational biology job currently open at Verily Life Sciences LLC, part of Google parent Alphabet Inc.

Tech company demand can create trying situations for biotechs. Andrew A. Radin, CEO of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based drug discovery company Twoxar Inc., told BioWorld Insight that a senior hiring manager he knows at a local biotech interested in building a big data analysis capability within her company was recently stuck trying to lure a senior scientist for the endeavor with a $110,000 budget vs. an offer for twice that money for a similar role at a tech company.

Radin, who has founded other companies prior to co-founding Twoxar, said he's able to mitigate some hiring challenges at his small company by turning to his network. But other challenges remain.

CHALLENGES AND DRAWS

Biotech companies in particular find it very difficult to hire software engineers, Asim Siddiqui, chief technology officer of Numedii Inc., told BioWorld Insight. Those companies in need of programmers to work on web services platforms find it especially hard because they're competing directly with the tech industry to fill very similar roles. Furthermore he noted, in life sciences companies software talent isn't "the king of the house" in the same way it is at tech companies, creating an additional reason for programmers to turn away.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Numedii uses big data and proprietary algorithms to discover drug-disease connections and biomarkers that are predictive of efficacy for clients such as Astellas Pharma Inc. (Numedii is a partner of Thomson Reuters, publisher BioWorld Insight.)

"Anytime you're in a growing field, there's always a dearth of people with the right skill set," he said. "It's always a challenge finding the right people, but somehow it always seems to work out."

Among the forces working in Siddiqui's favor as he looks to fill open bioinformatician, biostatistician and software engineering roles at Numedii, is his approach. He is seeking people specifically driven to work on biological challenges. Appealing to their sense of purpose, he tries to impress on each candidate that "the problems that we try to solve in biology are ones which will have a direct impact on the human condition."

CULTURE COUNTS

While the big picture matters, so too does basic company culture, according to Glassdoor's Chamberlain. To attract candidates in the hard-to-fill role of data scientist (and presumably related fields) "employers should focus on developing competitive compensation packages that include top benefits and perks, but they should also foster a great company culture rooted in its core mission and values," he said. "Candidates today are paying attention to company culture more than ever, so employers who are on the cutting edge may have a leg up."

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