Head of AI Protein Design

We are seeking a Head of AI Protein Design to join our team working at the interface of generative AI and protein design. You will play a key role in shaping our scientific strategy, conceiving of and delivering on protein design campaigns as part of AI model validation and customer facing projects, whilst leading a team of computational protein designers.

This is an opportunity to help shape and grow an organization that advances artificial intelligence and applies it to longstanding scientific challenges. Using your blend of computational expertise, in-depth biochemical and structural understanding of proteins as well as cutting edge experimental techniques, you will drive our real world validation and application efforts to design for and optimize proteins. You will closely collaborate with our Frontier AI Models unit and our Experimental Platform unit.

Who you are

• You are a computational protein designer. You have a proven track record of successfully leveraging novel computational tools and your knowledge of biochemistry or structural biology to run large protein design campaigns You are routinely using computational metrics at scale in order to score designed proteins and derive insights from experimental results.
• You have deep experience with generative AI. You have deep hands-on experience using state of the art machine learning tools such as AlphaFold, RFdiffusion, ProteinMPNN or similar models. Combined with your ability to build and train machine learning models from scratch, you are able to extend those models and tune them as required.
• You seek applied impact. You have a deep understanding of the practical requirements in drug discovery, such as the functional characteristics required of biologics. Combined with your knowledge of generative models you are able to devise protein design campaigns that aim for maximum applied impact.
• You are a successful scientist. You have a PhD (or equivalent industry experience) in artificial intelligence, computational biology, bioinformatics, computer science, biochemistry, structural biology, physics, biophysics, bio / chem engineering, or a related field. Your research experience was in protein design using computational expertise.
• You are an owner. You have a proven track record of delivering successful commercial and / or academic research projects, demonstrated through publications, patents, and / or commercially impactful outcomes, as well as other contributions to the scientific community.
• You are a leader. You are a trusted leader who loves to inspire people and enable them to perform at their highest levels. You have managed interdisciplinary teams before, and have excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex scientific concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• You are a mission driven innovator. You are passionate about making a positive impact on the world, whether it's for patients, partners or beyond. You are motivated by the end goal and are flexible in adapting to different approaches and methodologies.
• You thrive in a dynamic and ambiguous environment. You excel in a fast-paced setting where goals must be achieved efficiently and urgently. You have a keen eye for creating, then optimizing processes to improve speed and repeatability. You are an advocate for lab automation, both through hardware and software.

What sets you apart (preferred but not required)

Your Responsibilities

Based on industry experience and deep scientific insight, propose experimental validation projects for testing our AI models.

Together with the CEO and Head of Business Development, shape the portfolio of capabilities for the company's protein design platform, helping to prioritize new areas and domains.

Create a thriving team culture : Use your leadership skills to build a collaborative, innovative, and high-morale environment and proactively seek opportunities to ensure alignment and open communication within the team and across other departments.

Analyze protein design problems based on functional requirements, biochemistry, structural biology and sequence homology.

Analyze and leverage our experimental results to improve the next round of designs and increase our success rate over validation rounds.

Be an effective interface between machine learning model development and experimental validation.

Help to pioneer our research, by improving the way we use, serve and integrate our AI models.

Work to the highest scientific standards (publication-grade work).

Apply

We offer strongly competitive compensation and benefits packages, including :

We also offer a stimulating work environment, and the opportunity to shape the future of synthetic biology through the application of breakthrough generative models.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and we are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.