The scoreboard, honestly: the hard targets, how often each one is actually looked at,
and the quiet human signals that never make it onto a dashboard.
Pipeline Success Rate
The percentage of analysis workflows you run that complete without critical errors or manual intervention.
Target · >98% success rate for established workflowsIf you run 50 standard RNA-seq analyses in a month and only one fails due to a configuration error you made, that's a 98% success rate. We're looking for consistent, reliable execution here.
QC Report Turnaround Time
How quickly you can deliver initial data Quality Control (QC) reports to the requesting lab scientists after receiving raw sequencing data.
Target · Deliver initial data QC reports within 24 hours of data receiptRaw FASTQ files land on the server at 10 am on Monday. We expect a preliminary QC report (FastQC, MultiQC) in the scientist's inbox by 10 am on Tuesday. This helps them quickly spot issues.
Analysis Accuracy & Reproducibility
The error rate on manually curated gene lists, variant annotations, or the consistency of your results when re-run.
Target · <1% error rate on manually curated gene lists or variant annotations; 100% reproducibility of scripted analyses.A senior analyst reviews a sample of your variant calls and finds no more than 1 incorrect annotation out of 100. Also, if they re-run your exact script with the same input, they get the exact same output. That's key.
Project Delivery Adherence
The percentage of your assigned analysis projects that you complete and deliver to the requesting team by the agreed-upon deadline.
Target · Successfully deliver 90%+ of owned standard analysis projects on the original timelineYou committed to delivering a differential expression analysis in three weeks. If you hit that deadline, it counts. If you need an extension, we'll discuss why, but the goal is to consistently deliver as promised.
Analysis Robustness & Interpretation
Your ability to produce defensible results, identify potential pitfalls (like batch effects), and offer sound biological interpretations of your findings.
- You're proactively pointing out potential confounders in results. Your conclusions are well-supported by the data and statistical tests. You rarely need to make significant corrections after initial delivery. Other scientists trust your interpretations and seek your opinion.
Documentation Quality & Clarity
How well you document your analysis steps, code, and results, making it easy for others (or future you!) to understand and replicate your work.
- Your analysis reports are clear, concise, and include all necessary methods and figures. Your code is well-commented and follows team standards. A new team member could pick up your analysis and understand it without asking you a dozen questions.
Stakeholder Communication
Your effectiveness in explaining complex genomics results to non-computational scientists in a way they can understand and act upon.
- Biologists consistently tell your manager that your explanations are clear and helpful. You can translate 'p-value' and 'fold-change' into 'this gene is probably important for X process'. You tailor your communication to your audience, avoiding jargon where possible.
Problem-Solving Initiative
When a pipeline breaks or data looks weird, you don't just escalate immediately. You've tried to diagnose the problem, looked at logs, and have some ideas.
- When you come to your senior for help, you've already done some investigation. You've checked the error messages, looked at the input files, and can describe what you've tried. You're not just reporting a symptom, but trying to find the cause.