Head of Biology

Output Labs; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity

Excellent medical, dental, and vision

Job summary

Output Labs is building a biological reasoning model that understands biology at scale. We seek a scientist to own the feedback loop between models and lab experiments, translating biology requirements into data and modeling priorities.

You will manage CRO campaigns for synthesis and testing, design active learning cycles, collaborate with engineering and model teams, and stay current with literature to drive model development.

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field with 3+ years postdoc/industry research experience.
• Deep understanding of protein biology, protein-ligand interactions, and sequence-structure function relationships.
• Experience designing biological experiments and working with CROs for synthesis and validation.
• Experience with protein language models or ML applied to biological sequences and structures.
• Strong Python programming and experience building computational pipelines and analysis tools.
• Ability to translate biology needs into data requirements for models and experiments.
• Comfort navigating unfamiliar biological problem areas and rapidly developing expertise.

Responsibilities

• Own the active learning cycle between Output's models and experimental validation: design experiments, manage CROs, interpret results, and feed back to the models.
• Dive into biological problem areas and translate requirements into data construction, modeling and evaluation priorities.
• Manage CRO relationships for synthesis, assays, and experiments to generate informative data.
• Collaborate with engineering to build biology-specific agent skills and workflows.
• Work with model and data teams to ensure experimental findings shape model learning.
• Stay current with literature and experimental methods to identify new problems and opportunities.

Skills

Biology domain knowledge

Experiment design

Cross-functional collaboration

ML for biology

Education

PhD in computational biology, biophysics, structural biology, molecular biology, or related field

Tools

Python

Computational pipelines

Data analysis

Job description

The Role

Output has built a biological reasoning model that understands biology at the scale and complexity life actually operates. Our model independently learned the principles of molecular interactions, opening up drug treatments that were previously impossible. We're already generating therapies that traditional approaches cannot reach. The hardest problems in both AI and biology are being solved here, and there is room for you to own one.

The Role

Output is currently in stealth, operated by a team of repeat founders and biotech veterans with multiple exits in AI x Bio, and backed by top-tier VCs including Y Combinator.

You own the feedback loop between Output's models and the lab. You go deep into specific biological problems, translate what the biology requires into priorities for data and modeling, and manage through CRO partners the experimental cycle that validates model outputs and generates new data.

• You will own the active learning cycle between Output's models and experimental validation: designing experiments, managing CRO partners for synthesis and testing, interpreting results, and feeding them back to improve the models
• You will dive into specific biological problem areas, developing the expertise needed to translate nuanced biological requirements into priorities for data construction, modeling, and evaluation
• You will manage CRO relationships for peptide and molecular synthesis, biological assays, and experimental testing, designing each campaign to generate maximally informative data
• You will collaborate with the engineering team to design and build biology-specific agent skills and workflows, encoding your biological expertise into tools that automate experimental decision-making
• You will work closely with the model and data teams, identifying biological phenomena the models should be sensitive to and ensuring that experimental findings shape what and how the models learn
• You will stay current with biological literature and experimental methods, continuously identifying new biological problems and translating them into opportunities for model development

About You

• You have a PhD in computational biology, biophysics, structural biology, molecular biology, or a related biological field with 3+ years of post-doctoral or industry research experience
• You have deep understanding of protein biology, protein-ligand interactions, and how sequence and structure relate to biological function
• You have experience designing biological experiments and working with CROs for synthesis and experimental validation
• You have experience working with protein language models or machine learning applied to biological sequences and structures
• You have strong programming skills in Python, with experience building computational pipelines and analysis tools
• You can move between the language of biology and the language of machine learning: you understand what models need from data and what experimental results mean for model development
• You are comfortable going deep into unfamiliar biological problem areas and rapidly developing the expertise needed to guide modeling and experimental decisions

Bonus Points

• You have structural biology expertise, including protein structure analysis and structure-function relationships
• You have experience with active learning or iterative experimental design in a computational biology or drug discovery setting
• You have hands‑on wet lab experience
• You have experience across multiple therapeutic modalities, including peptides
• You have experience building tools or writing code that automates biological analysis workflows

Our Values

• Heart: We foster a culture of ownership. We are assembling a team of individuals who are passionate and take pride in their contributions.
• Excellence: We have an unwavering commitment to excellence and continuously challenge ourselves to reach the highest standards.
• Practicality: We value practicality and results-oriented thinking. We are committed to making a tangible impact on the lives of patients and the broader community.
• Honesty: We place a high value on honesty and directness. We firmly believe in addressing issues as they arise, in an open and transparent manner.
• Fun: We believe that life is too short to not have fun. Our goal is to create a workplace that is fun, engaging, rewarding and fulfilling.

What we offer

• We encourage new and different ideas, creativity and contrarian thinking
• Healthy feedback focused environment to help you strive - leadership will have high expectations, regularly share constructive feedback, support you and help you grow, and welcome receiving feedback and ideas from you
• You own your day-to-day management. What we care about is that we all hit our milestones
• Competitive salary and equity in a growing, well-funded startup
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage