Computational Biologist (Neuroscience or Proteomics)
Location: UK/EU Remote
Role Type: Full-time contractor
Industry Focus: AI for Science, AIxBio, TechBio, Neuroscience, Proteomics, Mass Spectrometry
Application Information (please read)
- You must be based in the UK or EU and able to work as a contractor
- We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role
- This role supports a US‑based client. Most work is async, with a few team calls each week, including some late evening calls (UK time)
About Talvo
We are the strategic hiring partner for frontier AI companies that are transforming the future of medicine and challenging traditional ways of thinking through novel applications of AI. We don’t just “fill roles”; we embed ourselves as a consultative partner in our clients’ ecosystems to architect world‑class teams.
Our reputation is built on deep domain authority in AI for Science, and over a decade of talent acquisition experience inside some of the world’s most renowned technology companies. We operate with high intensity and relentless precision because the companies we support are not just solving complex problems. They are changing the world.
About This Role
We are partnering with a fast‑growing, VC‑backed AIxBio company that works with frontier AI labs and pharma on how well AI handles real science. We are hiring Computational Biologists into their Neuroscience and Proteomics teams.
AI models are getting very good at sounding like scientists. Your job is to find out where they fall short. You’ll take real datasets from your field, find the points where expert judgment matters most, and turn them into hard problems that a strong scientist would solve and an AI would likely get wrong. Then you’ll review how the AI worked through them and pinpoint where its thinking broke down.
This is hands‑on science, not a side project. You’ll work alongside engineers and other scientists, and your expertise shapes how some of the most advanced AI models are measured.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Design Hard Problems: Turn real analyses from your field into challenging questions with one clear, defensible answer
- Recreate Real Research: Build scenarios that cover the full scientific process, from the first hypothesis through experimental choices, data processing and conclusions
- Work with Real Data:
- Neuroscience: electrophysiology, imaging, neuroimaging, omics and behavioural data
- Proteomics: mass spec data, with scope to expand into lipidomics and metabolomics
- Spot What Others Miss: Test whether AI can tell genuine biology from noise, batch effects and artefacts, and whether it knows the limits of a model system
- Review AI Reasoning: Work through the AI’s analysis step by step, explain where it went wrong, and say what an expert would have done instead
- Partner with Engineers: Help turn your scientific judgment into new tools and workflows
What You’ll Bring
Your first degree could be in biology, or in maths, physics or computer science, as long as your research since has been hands‑on biology.
Must haves
- Deep Domain Expertise: A PhD or MD/PhD in neuroscience, proteomics, analytical chemistry, biochemistry or a closely related field, with a publication record. Postdocs and recent PhD graduates welcome. We can’t consider current PhD students
- Close to the Science: Hands‑on data analysis in your field within the last 2 years. You generated or ran the data, analysed it and drew the conclusions yourself
- Analyses Your Own Data: You do your own computational analysis, with some Python or R. Fluent coding is a big plus
- Owns the Method: You can explain why you chose an approach, what else you considered and where it could fail, and defend it to a sceptical scientist, in writing and live
- Experimental Design and Stats: A strong command of both
- Comfortable with Messy Data: You know how to separate a real result from a technical one
- Something You’ve Built: A tool, dataset, model or paper you’re proud of and can talk through in depth
- AI‑Native: You use AI tools every day and you’re confident calling them out when they’re wrong
- For Neuroscience: Hands‑on analysis of raw data in at least two areas, such as electrophysiology, imaging, neuroimaging, single‑cell or spatial omics, or behaviour
- For Proteomics: Mass spectrometry is a core part of your day‑to‑day work, within the last year
Nice to haves
- Neuroscience: Experience across different model systems, from cell and organoid models through to animal and human studies
- Proteomics: Lipidomics or metabolomics experience, protein sequencing or antibody work
- Evaluation Experience: You’ve built benchmarks, evaluations or scoring systems
This Role Might Not Be For You If...
- You’ve moved away from hands‑on science: If most of your recent work is managing or coordinating, this isn’t the right fit
- You’re an engineer first: If you’re an ML, data or pipeline engineer without biology training, this isn’t for you
- Your growth has stalled: We’re looking for people on an upward curve. If your scope hasn’t grown in a few years, this may not be the right fit
- You see AI as a threat: This job means working with AI every day to find its limits
Talvo is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other background. If you need any adjustments during the application or interview process, just let us know.
