Bioinformatics Intern: Build Real Genomics Pipelines

Novaflow (YC S25); San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 34,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive intern compensation

Meals covered in the office

Opportunity for full-time role

Direct work with founders

Real responsibility from day one

Job summary

An innovative biotech startup in San Francisco is looking for a Computational Biology Intern to assist in building bioinformatics pipelines for genomics and other data. The role involves writing analysis code in Python/R and helping with cloud infrastructure. You'll work closely with the founders on real problems, gaining responsibility and the chance to convert to full-time based on performance. This internship offers competitive compensation, meals in-office, and invaluable startup experience.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in a related field.
• Proficient in Python and/or R.
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics file formats.

Responsibilities

• Help build and maintain bioinformatics pipelines.
• Write clean, reproducible analysis code.
• Assist with cloud infrastructure for large-scale workloads.
• Validate outputs against scientific standards.
• Help identify researcher needs for product decisions.

Skills

Python

R

Linux/Unix

Bioinformatics

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science

Tools

AWS

GCP

Docker

Nextflow

Snakemake

Job description

About Novaflow

Novaflow is the AI data analyst for biology labs. Analytics is the bottleneck for scientific discovery. Biologists have to outsource analysis to expensive bioinformaticians or core services and wait weeks or months for results. We're solving this by putting analysis directly back into the hands of researchers, allowing them to go from raw data to publication-ready insights and visualizations in days instead of months. We're well-funded, growing extremely fast, and backed by leading investors including Y Combinator and BioRender.

About Novaflow

Novaflow is the AI data analyst for biology labs. Analytics is the bottleneck for scientific discovery. Biologists have to outsource analysis to expensive bioinformaticians or core services and wait weeks or months for results. We're solving this by putting analysis directly back into the hands of researchers, allowing them to go from raw data to publication-ready insights and visualizations in days instead of months. We're well-funded, growing extremely fast, and backed by leading investors including Y Combinator and BioRender.

About The Role

We're hiring a Computational Biology Intern to help build and improve the bioinformatics pipelines behind our platform. You'll work on real analysis workflows that process raw sequencing data for actual research labs, not toy projects. If the science is wrong, scientists notice. You'll care about getting it right.

This is not a sit-in-the-corner internship. We're a small team and you'll work directly with the founders on real problems from day one. We're looking for someone with high agency who takes initiative and doesn't wait to be told what to do.

This role can be remote or in-person at our San Francisco office. There is potential to convert to a full-time position based on performance.

What You'll Work On

• Help build and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for genomics, transcriptomics, and other -omics data
• Write clean, reproducible analysis code in Python and/or R
• Assist with cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) for running large-scale compute workloads
• Integrate existing bioinformatics tools, databases, and data sources into the platform
• Validate pipeline outputs against published methodologies and real scientific standards
• Help identify what researchers actually need and translate that into product decisions
  
  

Requirements

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor's or Master's in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related field
• Proficient in Python and/or R
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics file formats (FASTQ, BAM, VCF, etc.)
• Comfortable in Linux/Unix command-line environments
• Understanding of molecular biology fundamentals (genomics, gene expression, variant calling)
• Good communicator who can work across biology and engineering
  
  

Nice to Have

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP)
• Familiarity with workflow managers (Nextflow, Snakemake, or similar)
• Docker experience
• Exposure to LLMs or AI/ML tools
• Previous startup experience (prior experience either working for or founding a startup)
  
  

Why Join Us?

• Competitive intern compensation
• Meals covered when you're in the office (lunch daily, dinner when you're working late)
• Opportunity to convert to a full-time founding team role
• Work directly with the founders with full visibility into product strategy, customer conversations, and fundraising
• Real responsibility from day one at a fast-growing YC company
• If you're curious about being a founder one day, this is your front-row seat.