Job Description

Senior Scientist, AI-Assisted Lab Optimization

Division: Detection

Start date: as soon as possible

Status: Full-Time

Visa sponsorship available: Not available

Work location: In-person in Cambridge, MA

The opportunity

You will be embedded in an AI driven R&D loop, using frontier models as collaborative partners to optimize the wet lab protocols , while generating the data and intuition that guide AI’s research into biosecurity relevant uplift.

At its heart, this is an opportunity to apply cutting edge tools to an important problem, and to see the results of your creativity and dedication produce tangible, measurable benefits to biosafety.

What you’ll do

• You will lead a hands-on, AI-in-the-loop wet lab R&D program, owning it from experimental design through execution, analysis and documentation. Concretely, you will:
• Work with the Detection team to identify opportunities for structured optimization experiments on viral enrichment, host and background depletion, nucleic acid extraction, and sequencing library preparation.
• Partner with frontier AI models as collaborative design partners, prompting them to propose and prioritize high impact protocol modifications from the molecular literature, to help structure experimental designs, and to interpret QC and sequencing output and recommend the next iteration. How that partnership is best structured is itself an open question. Whether you work with one model continuously, run several in parallel and cross assess their outputs, or develop an approach we have not yet considered, is something we hope this program will teach us.
• Execute these experiments at the bench, working toward a set of ambitious improvement targets. Some of this you will do yourself. Some you will coordinate across the detection scientists and research associates, with the full support of the laboratory and the lab automation work that follows it.
• Build QC feedback loops that aggregate historical sequencing reports and protocol metadata, so that models can suggest improvements grounded in our own data rather than the literature alone.
• Benchmark results rigorously, establishing reproducible metrics and controls so that improvements are real and demonstrably AI attributable.
• Establish how this work is captured. We do not yet have a logging system, and we want a codified approach to labelling and annotating these interactions so that we can later interrogate the record and identify where the models genuinely contributed. You would design that with us.
• Produce a qualitative, well documented case study of how, and how much, frontier AI uplifts an expert biologist in a complex wet lab setting, directly informing AI safety and CBRN threat modeling.
• Maintain documentation in electronic lab notebooks and uphold rigorous QA/QC throughout. In this role the record is not administrative overhead, it is one of the primary deliverables.
• Alongside the core program, you will help colleagues across the laboratory apply these tools more effectively in their own work.
• You will work in close partnership with AI, computational and laboratory science leadership, who will provide scientific direction and computational support.

Required qualifications

• PhD in molecular biology, microbiology, bioengineering or a related field, or an MS with an equivalent depth of hands-on experience.
• Deep, hands-on wet lab expertise in relevant protocols, including viral enrichment, nucleic acid extraction and NGS library preparation, with protocol development as a substantive focus of your work rather than an occasional part of it.
• A demonstrated track record of optimizing and troubleshooting complex molecular protocols, supported by rigorous experimental design and quantitative data analysis skills.
• Strong, current and self directed fluency with frontier AI tools in your own scientific work. We are looking for an iterative working relationship with these models, in which you interrogate and push back on outputs, recognize when a suggestion is plausible but experimentally unsound, and treat the model as an instrument you are actively calibrating.
• Excellent communication and collaboration habits. This role sits between two teams with different cultures and different working rhythms, and the ability to operate credibly in both is central to its success. It carries more weight here than it would in most laboratory roles.
• A proven ability to own a research program independently, exercising sound scientific judgment with limited supervision. There is no established template for this position and no internal precedent for it, so you will be defining much of your own scope early on, with our full support.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with metagenomic sequencing and environmental samples such as wastewater. Depth here is valuable, though a good deal of it can be learned alongside the Detection team.
• Experience with technically demanding sample types more broadly, including soil, leaf litter, marine and sediment work. Wastewater is a complex, variable and inhibitor rich matrix, and scientists who have worked in that space tend to recognize quickly where the most meaningful gains are available.
• Experience working with RNA. Much of the environmental metagenomics community works predominantly with DNA, and familiarity with the additional demands of RNA is a strong advantage here.
• A background in molecular ecology or environmental microbiology, and a varied research history more generally. This work rewards breadth and creativity across problem types.
• Familiarity with liquid handling automation such as Opentrons, Hamilton or Tecan. We have an existing automation foundation and plan to expand it, and we expect the person in this role to influence that direction.
• Working knowledge of bioinformatics and sequencing QC pipelines, and scripting in Python or R for data analysis.
• Prior work in biosecurity, pandemic preparedness or a related mission driven setting.
• Background in viral ecology, low abundance or rare target detection, targeted sequencing, probe capture enrichment or host depletion chemistries.

Logistics and benefits

• This is a full-time in-person role located in our Cambridge, MA office. Benefits package includes:
• Comprehensive healthcare coverage, including health, dental & vision insurance, as well as a yearly mental health allowance for every employee.
• Flexible work hours; unlimited paid time off (PTO) for all employees; and minimum 12 weeks fully-paid parental leave.
• Professional development opportunities, including fully-paid conference sponsorships and a yearly development allowance for every employee.
• Employer 401(k) match up to total salary.

About Company

Non-profit dedicated to protecting civilization from catastrophic biological risks, particularly pathogens designed to evade detection and serve as a technical advisor to the US and allied governments.