AI Scientist

Menlo Ventures; Brisbane (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading biotech startup is looking for an AI Scientist to drive innovative drug discovery through AI initiatives. This role involves leading deep learning research, mentoring junior scientists, and collaborating across interdisciplinary teams to advance therapeutic design. Ideal candidates will have a PhD, a strong publication record, and extensive experience in AI and molecular sciences.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of research experience in AI projects.
• Proven ability to mentor junior researchers.
• Experience presenting technical work to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of deep learning models for molecular applications.
• Mentor and guide a team of AI scientists and engineers.
• Publish high-impact research in AI and biotech.

Skills

Deep learning frameworks

Molecular modeling

Cheminformatics

Research and leadership

Strong communication skills

Education

PhD in Computer Science or related field

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

Job description

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

Xaira Therapeutics is seeking a AI Scientist to join our core AI team and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of AI-driven drug discovery. You will lead research initiatives at the cutting edge of machine learning, molecular modeling, and therapeutic design. In this role, you will not only drive the development of novel deep learning methods for molecular representation and generation, but also mentor junior scientists, influence technical strategy, and collaborate closely with world-class experts in biology, chemistry, and clinical development.

As a technical and scientific leader, you will have both the freedom and responsibility to define new research directions that translate into real-world therapeutic advances. This is a unique opportunity to make foundational contributions to a deeply interdisciplinary team committed to reimagining drug discovery through AI.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead research and development of state-of-the-art deep learning models for molecular modeling, generative chemistry, or related applications.
• Partner with cross-functional teams in biology, chemistry, and clinical sciences to identify key problems and design innovative AI-driven solutions.
• Mentor and support a growing team of AI scientists and engineers through technical guidance and collaborative leadership.
• Publish high-impact research and represent Xaira’s scientific leadership in the broader AI/biotech community.
• Contribute to technical strategy and the long-term vision for AI within Xaira.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Chemistry, or a related field.
• Strong publication record in top-tier conferences or journals (e.g., NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, Nature, Science, Cell).
• 5+ years of research experience, including postdoctoral or industry settings, with a track record of leading high-impact AI projects.
• Deep expertise in modern deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX) and large-scale model training on GPUs or distributed systems.
• Demonstrated experience at the intersection of AI and molecular sciences (e.g., cheminformatics, molecular docking, protein modeling).
• Proven ability to mentor junior researchers and work collaboratively in interdisciplinary environments.
• Strong communication skills, with experience presenting complex technical work to diverse audiences.
• Being an active contributor to the open-source or research community is a plus.