Principal Scientist (Comp. Bio/ML) - Genomics

Helical; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Helical is seeking a Principal Computational Scientist/Director to translate foundation models into real-world discovery workflows. You will lead model evaluation and applied use cases, partnering with research, Product and Business Development to turn biology + ML into deliverables that matter for customers.

You will mentor junior colleagues, work with a scaling team, and drive strategy at a time of growth. Strong ML for Genomics, PyTorch proficiency, and excellent communication are essential.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc with industry ML experience in Genomics.
• Strong understanding of ML/AI methods for biology data.
• Hands-on experience with ML frameworks like PyTorch.
• Leadership experience with small teams and roadmaps.
• Excellent communication to translate science for stakeholders.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, iterative environment.
• Passion for biology and ML at the intersection.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific leadership across model evaluation and applied use cases.
• Collaborate with research, Product and Business Development to deliver customer-focused outcomes.
• Mentor and support junior colleagues and scale the team.
• Translate cutting-edge biology + ML into tangible deliverables for customers.

Skills

Genomics ML

Transformers

PyTorch

Leadership

Communication

Education

PhD in Computational Biology/ML/Bioinformatics

MSc with 5+ years in ML for Genomics

Tools

PyTorch

Job description

We're looking for a Principal Computational Scientist/Director to help translate our foundation models into impactful, real-world discovery workflows. In this role, you'll provide scientific leadership across model evaluation and applied use cases, ensuring our work stays grounded in the most relevant challenges in drug development and translational research.

You'll join as a senior individual contributor with leadership and strategy experience at a point where the the team scales. You will act as a key scientific partner to our research team, mentor and support junior colleagues, and work closely with Product and Business Development to turn cutting-edge biology + ML into deliverables that matter for customers.

• PhD in Computational Biology, Machine Learning, Bioinformatics, or a related field, with a strong focus on Genomics + ML, and 2+ years of industry (non-academic) experience OR MSc in a relevant field and 5+ years of industry experience applying ML to Genomics problems

• Strong understanding of ML/AI methods for biological data (e.g., transformers, VAEs, diffusion models, classical ML)

• Hands-on experience with modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch (or equivalent)

• Leadership experience with small teams to work towards defined roadmaps or projects

• Excellent communication skills - able to translate complex science into clear, actionable insights for technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Comfortable in a fast-paced, high-iteration environment, moving quickly from prototype experiment insight

• Strong passion for building at the intersection of biology and machine learning