Data Scientist

Posted Monday, March 31, 2025 at 10:00 AM

Who We Are:

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) is a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative therapeutics to improve the lives of people living with neurological and psychiatric disorders. We are looking for great people who thrive in a respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and productive culture to join the Xenon team.

What We Do:

We are advancing an exciting product pipeline to address indications with high unmet medical need, including epilepsy and depression. Our flagship azetukalner program represents the most advanced potassium channel modulator in clinical development for multiple indications. Building upon the positive results and compelling data from our Phase 2b “X-TOLE” study in adult patients with focal epilepsy, our Phase 3 epilepsy program includes multiple clinical trials evaluating azetukalner in patients with focal onset seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. In 2024, we are planning to initiate a Phase 3 azetukalner program in major depressive disorder, based on topline data from our Phase 2 “X-NOVA” clinical trial. In addition, we are proud of the leading-edge science coming out of our discovery labs, including early-stage research programs that leverage our extensive ion channel expertise and drug discovery capabilities to identify validated drug targets and develop new product candidates. Backed by a strong balance sheet to support our growth plans, we continue to build a fully integrated, premier neuroscience company with strong discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.

About the Role:

We are seeking a Data Scientist (12-month term) to support the Computational Science & AI team to build, develop and deploy machine learning powered applications and automated data analysis/signal processing applications through an on-premises cloud infrastructure. The position will collaborate with Research Scientists and IT Network managers to create production grade, user friendly, front-end and back-end code, mostly using Python programming to deploy applications to an on-premises Linux server. The successful applicant will have the ability to work independently, good communication skills, be friendly and easy to work with, strong programming experience in Python, and knowledge of deep learning concepts.

This position reports to the Associate Director, Computational Science & AI and will work with other Research Scientists in the In Vivo and In Vitro Pharmacology team and IT Network Infrastructure Managers in the Xenon Vancouver office location. The level of the position will be commensurate with the candidate’s education and industry experience. This role is a hybrid position, requiring a minimum of 2 days per week in the office.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Ability to build scalable data models, leading to user friendly web-based applications/GUIs in Python.
• Use Docker to build, test and deploy containerized applications on a server.
• Setup deep learning pipelines including data labeling to create training dataset, model training, model validation and error quantification (mostly animal pose estimation models).
• Setup production level deployment of deep learning models in a Linux server environment using Docker or similar technologies.
• Communicate effectively with all stakeholders, including presenting algorithm, methods and results to a larger audience.
• Write detailed application documentation using professional tools in GitHub pages or similar.
• Act in accordance with Company policies, including, for example, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and ensure policies are understood and followed.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, math, or other related quantitative field, with relevant machine learning and computer programming experience.
• Advanced programming skills in Python including creating/debugging scripts and writing readable and functional code with appropriate documentation and comments.
• Advanced skills in SQL scripting, SQL Database management and application servers with front and back-end systems.
• A solid knowledge of deep learning (DL) concepts and ability to setup and run deep learning image processing models in a Linux server environment.
• Familiarity with basic HTML/CSS elements to create user friendly front-end interface and interactive visualizations for projects (Plotly’s Dash (open source), or FastAPI web frameworks).
• Familiarity with Docker for setting up container applications.
• Excellent knowledge of basic git workflows for documentation and version control such as branching, merging. Familiarity with advanced tools like GitHub Actions, Docker/Kubernetes for MLOps workflow, GitHub Pages for documentation.
• Proficient at writing basic bash scripts, working with Linux systems (Ubuntu), virtual machines (VM’s), and on-premises Linux Server environment.
• Any experience and exposure to DevOps tools or MLOps tools in AWS, GCP or Azure is appreciated.
• Excellent writing skills with a demonstrated ability to properly document projects (for example through GitHub Pages, Sphinx documentation, Read the Docs).
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills required.

The base salary range for this role is $93,900 to $150,500 CAD; we will consider above this range for exceptional candidates. Base salary is determined by a combination of factors including, but not limited to, education and other qualifications, years of relevant experience, and internal equity.

Our Total Rewards program includes base salary, target bonus, and stock options, as well as a full range of benefits including medical, dental, vision, short-& long-term disability, accidental death & dismemberment, and life insurance programs, Employee Assistance Program, travel insurance, and retirement savings programs with company matching contributions.

Xenon encourages time to rest and re-charge through vacation, personal days, sick days, and an end-of-year company shutdown. Xenon highly values employee development and has an expanding Training, Learning & Development program, including a Tuition Assistance program for advanced degrees.

As part of our hiring process, Xenon conducts background checks for finalist candidates. The types of checks conducted will vary depending on the relevance to the position.

To apply for this position, click Apply Now to complete the application. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, due to the volume of applicants, only those chosen for interview will be contacted.