Hybrid AI-Driven Protein Designer for Synthetic Biology in London

We are seeking a Computational Protein Design Scientist to join our team working at the interface of generative AI and synthetic biology. You will play a key role amongst a team of scientists designing and engineering proteins for specific functions. 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 and in-depth biochemical understanding of proteins, you will generate insights to improve protein functionality and operate at the interface between our machine learning and experimental platform units, working closely to seamlessly integrate AI generations and lab validation data.

Who you are

• You are a computational protein designer with a proven track record of successfully leveraging novel computational tools and knowledge of biochemistry or structural biology to design proteins to functional requirements and applications in synthetic biology.
• You are a strong data scientist with experience owning data-driven projects to generate biological insights.
• You have a PhD (or equivalent industry experience) in computational biology, bioinformatics, computer science, biochemistry, structural biology, physics, biophysics, bio/chem engineering, or a related field, with research experience in protein biochemistry using computational expertise.
• You have experience collaborating with experimental (i.e. wet lab) teams to achieve protein design objectives.
• You have a proven track record of delivering successful commercial and/or academic research projects, demonstrated through publications, patents, and/or commercially impactful outcomes.
• You love to connect people and enable them to perform at their highest levels, with excellent communication and presentation skills to convey complex scientific concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• You are passionate about making a positive impact on the world and are motivated by the end goal, being flexible in adapting to different approaches and methodologies.
• You excel in a fast-paced setting where goals must be achieved efficiently and urgently, with a keen eye for creating and optimizing processes to improve speed and repeatability.
• You advocate for lab automation, both through hardware and software.

What sets you apart (preferred but not required)

• You have experience leveraging generative AI (or other machine learning models) in synthetic biology applications.
• You have experience engineering gene editing tools, such as nucleases and integrases.
• You have experience with homology-based and structural bioinformatics, able to answer scientific questions using very large databases.
• You have worked in startups and helped the company grow.

Responsibilities

• Leverage our proprietary generative AI models to design proteins for experimental validation.
• Analyze protein design problems based on functional requirements, biochemistry, structural biology and sequence homology.
• Generate designs using our proprietary generative AI models and optimize designs for experimental validation.
• Coordinate with our lab-based protein engineers to plan and optimize the design process and validation strategy.
• Analyze and leverage our experimental results to improve the next round of designs and increase our success rate over validation rounds.
• Collaborate with machine learning scientists to fine-tune and prompt our models.
• Be an effective interface between machine learning model development and experimental validation.
• Capture bioengineering learnings and feedback to our machine learning unit, and vice versa.
• Foster a collaborative and innovative environment, proactively finding opportunities to innovate and create clarity and alignment between different units.
• Help improve the way we use, serve and integrate our AI models, by feeding back to the software engineers and foundational machine learning unit.
• Help improve our data management systems and workflows.
• Work to the highest scientific standards (publication-grade work).
• Stay on top of relevant developments in synthetic biology.
• Continue building your understanding of generative AI as well as expanded areas of protein and cell biology.
• Participate in knowledge sharing, e.g. organize and present at our internal reading group.
• Attend and present at conferences when relevant.

Apply

We offer strongly competitive compensation and benefits packages, including private health insurance, pension/401(K) contributions, generous leave policies (including gender neutral parental leave), hybrid working, travel opportunities and more. 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 are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.