How To Become A Bioinformatics Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bioinformatics engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Jim Huggins

A bioinformatics engineer is a scientific professional who has a background in information technology (IT), biology, computer science, and database management to develop and design databases that store detailed biological information. These individuals have a broad knowledge of genetics, laboratory techniques, and research protocols, and use bioinformatics methodology to analyze biological data such as gene sequencing. They also are responsible for generating reports regarding biological data, and working with other scientists and engineers on particular projects.

A bioinformatics engineer typically has an educational background in engineering, IT, bioinformatics engineering, biology, chemistry, and computer science. Many of these individuals have at least a master's degree, and some may have a Ph.D. These engineers should possess strong analytical, research, and organizational skills, and should have a working knowledge of mathematics and the scientific method.

A bioinformatics engineer can work in academia or industry and can make up to $90,000 per year. The career field is growing rapidly, and expected to increase by at least 21% in the next 10 years.

What general advice would you give to a bioinformatics engineer?

Dr. Jim Huggins

Associate Professor of Computer Science, Kettering University

Computer science is a problem-solving discipline. Computer scientists help people solve problems. Typically, those problems deal with data; someone has a large set of data and needs to answer questions about that data, or process it in some way. Computer scientists write programs that run on computers to help their clients answer those questions and perform those processing tasks. On a given day, a computer scientist might do any or all of the following tasks, working alone or in teams: - Meet with clients to understand their problems and how a computing system might help them solve their problems. - Design computing systems to meet client needs. - Build computing systems to meet design specifications. - Test computing systems in order to find errors in their construction and fix those errors. - Repair computing systems that are not functioning properly. - Instruct users how to use the computing systems the computer scientist has designed for them. - Brainstorm new ideas for computing systems that would meet the needs of new customers.

ScoreBioinformatics EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $104,575

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 31.31%

Black or African American 2.85%

Hispanic or Latino 6.37%

Unknown 4.34%

White 54.97%

Gender

female 37.78%

male 62.22%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bioinformatics engineer

Explore bioinformatics engineer education requirements

Most common bioinformatics engineer degrees

Bachelor's

46.9 %

Master's

26.5 %

Doctorate

20.4 %

Start to develop specific bioinformatics engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	32.28%
Next-Generation Sequencing	12.77%
NGS	9.95%
AWS	9.93%
Java	5.90%

Complete relevant bioinformatics engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bioinformatics engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bioinformatics engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bioinformatics engineer resumes.

Research bioinformatics engineer duties and responsibilities

Develop and deploy of large legacy Postgresql-backed web app build with CodeIgniter PHP that manages Solazyme's internal business data.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Assist in updating an in-house LIMS system for effective DNA sample tracking.
Develop front-end UX/UI and data visualization for a web base microarray data analysis application using D3.js and AngularJS.

Prepare your bioinformatics engineer resume

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