Computational Biologist

Computational BiologistValthos Inc. Valthos is an applied biological intelligence company. We build and deploy software and biological AI systems to safeguard humanity.The same AI architectures that enable self-driving cars, land rockets with precision, and deliver expert-level reasoning are beginning to be deployed in biological design. To stay ahead, we must advance our arsenal of tools to capture and design against real-time sensitivities in nature's evolving mutational landscape.We are a group of mission-driven software engineers from Palantir and applied biological ML engineers from MIT's Broad Institute and DeepMind making the latest advances in computational biology accessible in the real-world for federal and commercial use.We are seeking a highly skilled Computational Biologist to bridge machine learning and biology by building robust data and evaluation frameworks for assessing and responding to biological threats, and for rapidly designing precision biologics.The RoleContribute to shaping and executing the Valthos-wide research and development roadmapIdentify large-scale biological datasets appropriate for training frontier biological models, and build workflows and infrastructure for processing these datasetsDesign, build, and apply evaluation frameworks for rigorously assessing model performance on real-world problems in biological securityDesign wet-lab experiments to evaluate the efficacy and real-world utility of designed biologicsCollaborate closely with AI engineers to design and train models tailored to tasks in biological security and precision biologicsCollaborate closely with software engineers to build and deploy tools for data analysis, including proper documentation and testingVisualize and communicate results clearly within Valthos and externallyWork with customers and external collaborators to understand their needs and effectively represent ValthosEmbrace continuous learning in both technical and non-technical areas across ValthosStay up-to-date on state-of-the-art methods at the intersection of AI and biologyQualifications (required)Experience analyzing biological datasets, ideally sequence-based modalities (e.g., genomic, protein, metagenomic)Experience planning and running in silico computational biology experimentsHigh proficiency in Python and its scientific package ecosystemExperience with bioinformatics sequence analysis tools (e.g., aligners)Experience with cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS)Qualifications (preferred)Proven ability to design, implement, and evaluate novel methods in computational biologyExperience working with experimental biologists to plan and interpret the results of wet-lab experimentsExperience with ML-centric bioinformatics and structure-based tools (e.g., AlphaFold)Knowledge of biological databases (e.g., NCBI)Experience with machine learning model training and evaluationContributions to open-source projectsIf there is a fit, we'll schedule two technical interviews. The final step is an onsite in our office, where you'll work on a small project, discuss ideas, and work with the wider team.