Research Scientist, Life Sciences (Large Molecules, Antibody Design)

Description

The company is a public benefit corporation based in San Francisco that builds reliable, interpretable and steerable AI systems, with the aim of making AI safe and useful for individual users and for society. Its fast-growing team includes researchers, engineers, policy specialists and business leaders.

The Life Sciences team is forming a research group that pairs AI with hands-on biology to make new biological findings. The aim is to move life sciences forward by roughly a factor of ten. This position is a therapeutic antibody specialist who has moved antibodies from target choice through lead optimization and candidate selection into IND-enabling work.

Your main job is to close the cycle between AI-generated hypotheses and lab data, and to share what you learn with the wider community. You will work with AI researchers and engineers to run antibody programs from start to finish and to test AI-designed antibodies against the standard a real drug candidate must meet.

Responsibilities

• Design and engineer therapeutic antibodies and own each program from start to finish, covering target and epitope choice, format selection (IgG, Fab, scFv, VHH, bispecific), humanization, affinity maturation, Fc engineering and candidate selection.
• Set the screening plan for each program, including binding kinetics (SPR, BLI), epitope binning and cross-species reactivity, cell-based functional assays, and developability checks for expression, aggregation, polyreactivity, stability, viscosity and immunogenicity risk.
• Map the route from lead molecule to IND-enabling studies, covering in vivo pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and the transfer to process development and manufacturing.
• Manage antibody production, characterization, and in vitro and in vivo work carried out by contract research organizations and academic collaborators.
• Assess AI-designed antibodies, take them through to experimental results, and return those results to the research teams.
• Keep data from all programs high quality and well recorded, including sequences, protocols, raw data and failed approaches.
• Explain findings clearly to biologists, AI researchers and life sciences audiences.

Requirements

• PhD in biochemistry, protein engineering, immunology, molecular biology or a closely related field.
• Proven work in therapeutic antibody discovery and engineering, including at least one antibody you helped advance from discovery through candidate selection and IND-enabling studies.
• Practical understanding of what an antibody IND needs in pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC).
• Comfort working through unclear problems and defining them in a research environment that changes quickly.
• Ability to work on your own while collaborating well across functions, with strong written and spoken communication.
• Minimum education: a bachelor's degree or an equivalent mix of education, training and experience, in a field relevant to the role as shown by coursework, training or work history. Required years of experience follow the internal level for the position.
• Preferred: more than 5 years of therapeutic antibody experience after the PhD.
• Preferred: a record of taking more than one antibody program into IND-enabling studies or the clinic, including contributions to pre-IND or IND documents.
• Preferred: hands-on work with antibody expression, purification and biophysical characterization.
• Preferred: experience directing antibody production, assays and in vivo studies at contract research organizations.
• Preferred: skills in structural biology, computational protein design or coding, such as Python for analyzing sequence and assay data, or using structure prediction and protein design tools.
• Preferred: experience with AI or ML tools in the life sciences.
• Preferred: publications or patents that show scientific impact.

Conditions

Fully on-site in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Location-based hybrid policy: staff are currently expected to be in an office at least 25% of the time, though some roles may require more time in the office.

Annual base salary of $300,000 to $320,000 USD.

The company sponsors visas, but not for every role or every candidate. If an offer is made, the company will make every reasonable effort to obtain a visa and uses an immigration lawyer to help.

The company encourages applications from people who do not meet every listed qualification, and it welcomes a range of perspectives.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits.
• Optional equity donation matching.
• Generous vacation and parental leave.
• Flexible working hours.
• An office space to collaborate in.