Forward Deployed Computational Biologist

Owkin; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work organization

Friendly and informal working env.

International team collaboration

Job summary

Owkin is seeking a Forward Deployed Computational Biologist to design, build, and deploy production-grade AI solutions for pharmaceutical clients as part of the K Pro platform. This client-facing role involves working at customer premises to turn ambiguous scientific challenges into reliable, scalable AI workflows, bridging science and real-world application.

You will work with data from multi-omics sources, apply Python-based analyses, and ensure rigorous scientific standards while delivering

Qualifications

• Education: MSc/PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Biology, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience analyzing real-world clinical data and multimodal omics data.
• Strong knowledge of molecular biology and therapeutic areas.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and tailor K Pro workflows for clients.
• Translate biological questions into computational workflows.
• Rapid prototyping with users to validate solutions.
• Collaborate with scientists and engineers to ensure delivery.

Skills

Python programming

Data visualization

Communication

Bias for action

Education

MSc/PhD in Computational Biology or related field

Tools

scikit-learn

XGBoost

Agentic AI frameworks

Job description

About us

Owkin is an agentic AI company pioneering Biological Artificial Superintelligence to solve problems in biology where human researchers alone have failed.
Owkin builds K Pro - an AI scientist for pharmaceutical research and strategic decision-making. K Pro orchestrates a suite of AI skills and tools to decode complex biology, accelerate research, and dramatically increase productivity.
K Pro is built on Owkin’s unrivalled multimodal patient data network, state-of-the‑art AI for biology and a decade of experience working with pharmaceutical partners.

Please submit your CV in English

About the role:

We are seeking a Forward Deployed Computational Biologist to operate at the intersection of AI, software systems, and biology. In this role, you will work directly with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to design, build, and deploy production‑grade AI solutions for complex scientific problems as part of Owkin’s agentic platform, K Pro, to fully meet specific customer needs.

This is a hands‑on, client‑facing role. You will spend time at the customer’s premises, turning ambiguous scientific challenges—such as discovering novel drug targets or disease subtypes—into reliable and scalable agentic solutions. You will be responsible for both the scientific rigor of the analytical workflows and the technical robustness of their implementation and deployment, bridging the gap between science and real‑world application.

In particular, you will:

• Deploy & Custom-build: Tailor Owkin’s agentic AI platform, K Pro, to specific client needs by implementing new analytical workflows, and integrate our platform into the clients’ existing workflows.

• Solve Scientific Problems: Translate complex biological and operational questions into concrete computational workflows, utilizing deep clinical and multi‑omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, etc.) and computational biology methodologies.

• Rapid Prototyping: Iterate quickly with users to validate solutions, balancing speed and quality to ensure effective, measurable impact.

• Collaboration: Work alongside Customer Success Managers, R&D data scientists, biologists, and software engineers to ensure the delivery of high‑quality scientific insights.

• Knowledge Transfer: Communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders—from clinicians and biologists to technical engineering teams to ensure alignment and adoption.

• Participation in a team‑wide on‑call rotation is required.

• This role requires frequent international travel to support our global operations and client needs. Anticipated destinations include the Owkin Paris office as well as various client premises across the UK, US, France, Germany, and Switzerland. To facilitate this travel schedule, the successful candidate must be based in close proximity to a major international airport or major train station.

About you

Required qualifications / experience:

• Education: MSc/PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Biology, Computer Science, or a related field.

• Proven expertise and impact in analyzing complex data, such as real‑world clinical data and multimodal omics (e.g, bulk, spatial/single‑cell, proteomics) and high‑throughput experimental data.

• Biological knowledge: Strong knowledge of molecular biology and at least one major therapeutic area (oncology, Immunology & Inflammation, neurology, …).

• Bias for action: Ability to operate in fast‑paced environments, managing ambiguity, and driving progress toward delivery.

• Engineering Proficiency: Very strong programming skills in Python; ability to both ideate and conduct exploratory analyses and data visualisations to aid interpretation; and write clean, production‑grade code. Strong familiarity with coding agents.

• AI/ML Experience: Familiarity with machine learning concepts (e.g., cross‑validation, statistical tests) and frameworks (scikit‑learn, XGBoost, etc.). Experience with LLMs and agentic AI frameworks is a plus.

• Communication: Exceptional ability to translate scientific complexity for non‑technical internal and external stakeholders.

Preferred qualifications/bonus:

• Experience in a Biotech/Pharma environment and excellent understanding of the different steps and respective needs of the typical Pharma drug discovery pipeline.

• Demonstrated ability to write production-level code in deployed products.

What we offer

• Flexible work organization

• Friendly and informal working environment

• Opportunity to work with an international team with high technical and scientific backgrounds

Owkin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status or on the basis of disability.