Director of Generative Biotherapeutics Design & Optimization

BioSpace; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 194,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Vacation benefits

Healthcare

Flexible benefits

Life insurance

Time off and leave

Employee clubs and activities

Job summary

Lilly’s Biotechnology Center in San Diego seeks a Director of Generative Design & Optimization to lead de novo biologics design using AI, ML, protein engineering, and high-throughput experimentation. You will manage end-to-end design, conditioning, and evaluation to advance therapeutic candidates with improved activity and developability.

You will build and scale teams of scientists and engineers, set technical standards, and translate computational progress into experimental validation and

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in computer science, computational biology, bioengineering, chemistry, physics, or related STEM with 3+ years; or an MS with 6+ years; or a BS with 8+ years.
• Track record leading computational molecular design efforts with experimental validation.
• Expertise in creating training/evaluation datasets for sequence or structure models.
• Strong Python skills and experience with a modern deep learning framework and GPU computing.

Responsibilities

• Lead scientific execution of Lilly's de novo biologics design capabilities across design generation, conditioning, sampling, scoring, and selection.
• Own the design workstream end-to-end and collaborate with Foundation Models and Active Learning teams.
• Guide AI researchers and computational scientists; provide technical direction and opportunities.
• Develop conditioning, guidance, and restraint methods for epitope-specific antibody/VHH designs.
• Create and scale integrated design pipelines spanning generation, sampling, optimization, scoring, and test nomination.
• Establish metrics connecting design quality to experimental outcomes and portfolio impact.

Skills

Python

GPU computing

Deep learning frameworks

Team leadership

Education

PhD in STEM field

MS with 6+ years experience

Job description

Lilly’s Biotechnology Center in San Diego seeks a Director of Generative Design & Optimization to lead de novo biologics design using AI, ML, protein engineering, and high-throughput experimentation. You will manage end-to-end design, conditioning, and evaluation to advance therapeutic candidates with improved activity and developability.

You will build and scale teams of scientists and engineers, set technical standards, and translate computational progress into experimental validation and