Forward Deployed Research Scientist (Biology)

Goodfire; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 315,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Market competitive salary

Competitive benefits

Job summary

An AI interpretability research company in San Francisco is seeking a Forward Deployed Research Scientist (Biology) to lead research projects with clients. The ideal candidate will have a PhD or MD and experience in computational biology. Responsibilities include collaborating on research, prototyping techniques, and driving project success. This role offers a competitive salary range of $220,000 - $315,000 USD along with equity and benefits.

Qualifications

• At least two years of relevant experience in interpretability and computational biology or bioinformatics.
• Deep familiarity with large models and a passion for understanding how they work.
• Strong writing and communication skills for explaining complex ideas.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with customers to conduct original research in interpretability and computational biology.
• Prototype techniques to visualize and manipulate internal model structures.
• Collaborate with engineering to turn research into production-ready tools.
• Drive partnership success by collaborating closely with customers and partners.

Skills

Machine Learning

Python

Communication skills

Education

PhD/MD or equivalent experience in biology

Tools

PyTorch

Job description

Forward Deployed Research Scientist (Biology)

About Goodfire

Behind our name: Like fire, AI holds the potential for both immense benefit and significant risk. Just as mastering fire transformed human history, we believe the safe and intentional development of AI will shape the future of our species. Our goal is to tame this new fire.

Goodfire is an AI interpretability research company focused on understanding and intentionally designing advanced AI systems. We believe advances in interpretability will unlock the next frontier of safe and powerful foundation models and that deep research breakthroughs are necessary to make this possible.

Everything we do is in service of that mission. We move fast, take ownership, and constantly push to improve. We believe in acting today rather than tomorrow. We care deeply about the success of the organization and put the team above ourselves.

Goodfire is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco with a team of the world’s top interpretability researchers and engineers from organizations like OpenAI and DeepMind. We’ve raised $57M from investors like Menlo, Lightspeed and Anthropic and work with customers including Arc Institute, Mayo Clinic, and Rakuten.

The role:

Scientific AI models trained to model natural systems are revolutionizing research across scientific domains, including protein interaction prediction, protein design, disease prediction, and materials discovery. We’re looking for a Forward Deployed Research Scientist (Biology) to join our team to work directly with customers to develop new techniques for understanding and designing large biological foundation models. You’ll work closely with a small, mission-driven team of scientists and engineers to conduct novel research, build practical tools, and push the field forward.

Where you'll contribute:

• Forward deployed research – lead scientific research with our partners to interpret advanced biological foundation models (genomic foundation models, ViTs, PLMs) to uncover what they’ve learned.
• Project delivery and implementation – own research delivery on high-stakes projects with customers and do whatever it takes to make delivery successful, including: problem and hypothesis definition, data sourcing, tool building, iteration, and implementation. Translate research into tools for real-world applications in precision medicine, digital pathology, drug discovery, and more.

Core responsibilities:

• Work directly with customers to conduct original research in interpretability and computational biology.
• Prototype techniques to visualize and manipulate internal model structures.
• Collaborate with engineering to turn research into production-ready tools.
• Drive partnership success by collaborating closely with our customers and partners.
• Help define and evolve our research direction.

Who you are:

Goodfire is looking for experienced individuals who embody our values and share our deep commitment to making interpretability accessible. We care deeply about building a team who shares our values:

Put mission and team first
All we do is in service of our mission. We trust each other, deeply care about the success of the organization, and choose to put our team above ourselves.

Improve constantly
We are constantly looking to improve every piece of the business. We proactively critique ourselves and others in a kind and thoughtful way that translates to practical improvements in the organization. We are pragmatic and consistently implement the obvious fixes that work.

Take ownership and initiative
There are no bystanders here. We proactively identify problems and take full responsibility over getting a strong result. We are self-driven, own our mistakes, and feel deep responsibility over what we’re building.

Action today
We have a small amount of time to do something incredibly hard and meaningful. The pace and intensity of the organization is high. If we can take action today or tomorrow, we will choose to do it today.

If you share our values and have at least two years of relevant experience, we encourage you to apply and join us in shaping the future of how we design AI systems.

What we are looking for:

• PhD/MD or equivalent experience in biology, with a strong ML background and experience in computational biology or bioinformatics.
• Deep familiarity with large models and a passion for understanding how they work.
• Fluency in Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch.
• Strong writing and communication skills for explaining complex ideas.
• Drive to move quickly and take ownership.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience leading research in a forward deployed environment and in service of a customer’s requirements.
• Familiarity with interpretability, alignment, or safe model development.
• Experience in startup or fast-paced lab environments.

This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits. More importantly, you'll have the opportunity to work on groundbreaking technology with a world-class team dedicated to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity.

The expected salary range for this position is $220,000 - $315,000 USD.