Research Scientist Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Tennessee
Tennessee's research scientist roles span pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nashville, agricultural biotechnology in Memphis, and materials science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Major employers including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and Corteva Agriscience regularly hire international researchers. The state's strong university pipeline and federal research infrastructure make it an active market for visa-sponsored positions.
See All Research Scientist JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 65+ Research Scientist Jobs in Tennessee with Visa Sponsorship jobs
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
See all 65+ Research Scientist Jobs in Tennessee with Visa Sponsorship
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Research Scientist Jobs in Tennessee with Visa Sponsorship.
Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
The Tracking the Immune Repertoire of Tumor Lymphocytes (TIRTL) Bluesky program in the Host–Microbe Interactions Department at St. Jude supports multiple institutional research and clinical programs focused on immune repertoire profiling. Building on the foundational TIRTL‑seq (Pogorelyy and Kirk et al., Nature Methods 2025) method, we provide cohort scale T cell and B cell receptor (TCR and BCR) sequencing, enabling research in cancer immunology, infectious disease, and antibody discovery across the institution.
We are seeking a Bioinformatics Research Scientist to play a key role in developing, maintaining, and scaling robust computational pipelines that support high-throughput immune repertoire sequencing and antibody discovery across cancer and infectious disease programs. This individual will work closely with experimental scientists, clinicians, and data science teams to deliver reproducible, production-ready analyses as part of a centralized service.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Independently perform basic and advanced level statistical analysis, algorithm implementation, programming from a variety of biotechnology platforms, and oversee quality check.
- Design and prepare materials and courses for training on various bioinformatics software and databases, computing, data mining, and analysis.
- Act as a liaison between end-users, software developers, system designers, and different departments.
- Establish protocols or best practices for common research tasks and SOP, evaluate products and solutions to make recommendations, and integrate solutions.
- Lead the development, implementation, installation, and maintenance of databases; coordinate data collection, database implementation, and usage and any hardware and software related to database collection.
- Develop programs to assist in the analysis of data within the databases.
- Assist in planning, coordinating, and organizing projects across departments and delegate tasks based on priority, expertise, and capacity.
- Perform other duties as assigned to meet the goals and objectives of the department and institution.
- Maintains regular and predictable attendance.
- Develop and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for TCR and BCR repertoire sequencing.
- Perform and oversee data QC, statistical analysis, and interpret repertoire datasets.
- Integrate immune repertoire data with clinical metadata and other multi-omics datasets.
- Document and maintain workflows and databases to ensure reproducibility, scalability, and long-term data and code reuse.
- Support infectious disease and host–microbe interaction studies, with emphasis on B cell responses and antibody discovery.
- Support immuno-oncology projects, including analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and integration with tumor genomic and clinical data.
- Collaborate with investigators and serve as a technical liaison between wet-lab, clinical, and computational teams.
- Contribute to continuous improvement and expansion of TIRTL analytical capabilities.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, cheminformatics, statistics/computer science (with a background in biological sciences or chemistry) or related field.
- Master's degree or PhD preferred.
MINIMUM EXPERIENCE:
- Minimum Requirement: Bachelor's degree with 6+ years of relevant post-degree work in bioinformatics, cheminformatics, statistics/computer science (with a background in biological sciences or chemistry).
- Experience Exception: Master's degree with 4+ years of relevant post-degree experience (OR) PhD with no experience.
- Experience in at least one programming or scripting language and at least one statistical package, with R preferred.
- Significant experience in at least one programming or scripting language and at least one statistical package, with python/R preferred.
- Strong experience with high-throughput sequencing data analysis.
- Experience with Linux, hpc environments, version control and workflow systems.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with immune repertoire analysis (BCR and/or TCR).
- Familiarity with tools and methods for BCR clonotyping, somatic hypermutation analysis, lineage reconstruction, or antigen-driven selection.
- Background in cancer immunology, infectious disease, or antibody discovery.
COMPENSATION
In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $86,320 - $154,960 per year for the role of Bioinformatics Research Scientist (TIRTL Collaborative Center).
Explore our exceptional benefits!
St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer
No Search Firms
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email, the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.
INTRODUCTION
The Tracking the Immune Repertoire of Tumor Lymphocytes (TIRTL) Bluesky program in the Host–Microbe Interactions Department at St. Jude supports multiple institutional research and clinical programs focused on immune repertoire profiling. Building on the foundational TIRTL‑seq (Pogorelyy and Kirk et al., Nature Methods 2025) method, we provide cohort scale T cell and B cell receptor (TCR and BCR) sequencing, enabling research in cancer immunology, infectious disease, and antibody discovery across the institution.
We are seeking a Bioinformatics Research Scientist to play a key role in developing, maintaining, and scaling robust computational pipelines that support high-throughput immune repertoire sequencing and antibody discovery across cancer and infectious disease programs. This individual will work closely with experimental scientists, clinicians, and data science teams to deliver reproducible, production-ready analyses as part of a centralized service.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Independently perform basic and advanced level statistical analysis, algorithm implementation, programming from a variety of biotechnology platforms, and oversee quality check.
- Design and prepare materials and courses for training on various bioinformatics software and databases, computing, data mining, and analysis.
- Act as a liaison between end-users, software developers, system designers, and different departments.
- Establish protocols or best practices for common research tasks and SOP, evaluate products and solutions to make recommendations, and integrate solutions.
- Lead the development, implementation, installation, and maintenance of databases; coordinate data collection, database implementation, and usage and any hardware and software related to database collection.
- Develop programs to assist in the analysis of data within the databases.
- Assist in planning, coordinating, and organizing projects across departments and delegate tasks based on priority, expertise, and capacity.
- Perform other duties as assigned to meet the goals and objectives of the department and institution.
- Maintains regular and predictable attendance.
- Develop and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for TCR and BCR repertoire sequencing.
- Perform and oversee data QC, statistical analysis, and interpret repertoire datasets.
- Integrate immune repertoire data with clinical metadata and other multi-omics datasets.
- Document and maintain workflows and databases to ensure reproducibility, scalability, and long-term data and code reuse.
- Support infectious disease and host–microbe interaction studies, with emphasis on B cell responses and antibody discovery.
- Support immuno-oncology projects, including analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and integration with tumor genomic and clinical data.
- Collaborate with investigators and serve as a technical liaison between wet-lab, clinical, and computational teams.
- Contribute to continuous improvement and expansion of TIRTL analytical capabilities.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, cheminformatics, statistics/computer science (with a background in biological sciences or chemistry) or related field.
- Master's degree or PhD preferred.
MINIMUM EXPERIENCE:
- Minimum Requirement: Bachelor's degree with 6+ years of relevant post-degree work in bioinformatics, cheminformatics, statistics/computer science (with a background in biological sciences or chemistry).
- Experience Exception: Master's degree with 4+ years of relevant post-degree experience (OR) PhD with no experience.
- Experience in at least one programming or scripting language and at least one statistical package, with R preferred.
- Significant experience in at least one programming or scripting language and at least one statistical package, with python/R preferred.
- Strong experience with high-throughput sequencing data analysis.
- Experience with Linux, hpc environments, version control and workflow systems.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with immune repertoire analysis (BCR and/or TCR).
- Familiarity with tools and methods for BCR clonotyping, somatic hypermutation analysis, lineage reconstruction, or antigen-driven selection.
- Background in cancer immunology, infectious disease, or antibody discovery.
COMPENSATION
In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $86,320 - $154,960 per year for the role of Bioinformatics Research Scientist (TIRTL Collaborative Center).
Explore our exceptional benefits!
St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer
No Search Firms
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email, the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.
Research Scientist Job Roles in Tennessee
See all 65+ Research Scientist Jobs in Tennessee
Sign up for free to filter by visa type, set job alerts, and find employers with verified sponsorship history.
Search Research Scientist Jobs in TennesseeResearch Scientist Jobs in Tennessee: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for research scientists in Tennessee?
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its affiliated contractors are among the most active sponsors for research scientist roles in Tennessee, particularly in energy, materials science, and computational research. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer's Memphis operations also have histories of sponsoring H-1B and O-1 visas for qualified research scientists.
Which visa types are most common for research scientist roles in Tennessee?
The H-1B is the most common visa for research scientist positions in Tennessee, as most roles require at least a master's degree in a specific scientific discipline, satisfying the specialty occupation requirement. The O-1A is an alternative for researchers with recognized publications, grants, or awards. University and federal lab positions may also qualify for J-1 exchange visitor status or EB-1 immigrant petition pathways for senior researchers.
Which cities in Tennessee have the most research scientist sponsorship jobs?
Oak Ridge leads for federal and energy research roles given its concentration of Department of Energy facilities. Nashville is the primary hub for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and clinical research positions, supported by Vanderbilt University and a growing life sciences sector. Memphis has notable activity in agricultural and food science research. Knoxville, home to the University of Tennessee's main campus, also generates consistent sponsorship demand across engineering and natural sciences.
How to find research scientist visa sponsorship jobs in Tennessee?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically for roles that offer visa sponsorship, making it more targeted than general job searches for research scientist positions in Tennessee. You can narrow results by location and role type to surface openings at institutions like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Vanderbilt, or Tennessee's pharmaceutical employers. Migrate Mate also provides visa guidance relevant to research scientist candidates navigating H-1B or O-1 pathways.
Are there any state-specific considerations for research scientists seeking visa sponsorship in Tennessee?
Tennessee's heavy concentration of federally funded research at Oak Ridge means some positions require security clearances, which can complicate or restrict sponsorship for certain visa holders. Researchers targeting academic or nonprofit lab roles should note that these employers are cap-exempt for H-1B purposes, allowing filing year-round without entering the annual lottery. Tennessee's lower cost of living relative to coastal research hubs also affects prevailing wage determinations under Labor Condition Application requirements.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored research scientist jobs in Tennessee?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
See which research scientist employers are hiring and sponsoring visas in Tennessee right now.
Search Research Scientist Jobs in Tennessee