Life Sciences Operator, Lead

United States Digital Space LLC; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 300,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is building AI for drug discovery and development. We seek an exceptional biotech operator to accelerate research by applying sharp scientific judgment and hands-on execution to identify where AI can have the greatest impact and translate insights into real results.

The ideal candidate has grown up professionally in high‑growth life sciences settings, with experience turning ideas into tested plans, and can work cross‑functionally with research, product, and

Qualifications

• Strong scientific and operating background; MD/PhD not required.
• Experience in high-growth life sciences environments.
• Experience founding or joining a biotechnology startup.
• Ability to identify opportunities before they are obvious.
• Independent execution with real judgment; hands-on when needed.
• Blend of scientific and business literacy across domains.

Responsibilities

• Identify and prioritise AI-accelerated life sciences research areas.
• Turn ideas into concrete, well-scoped efforts with ownership.
• Translate ambiguous questions into structured, testable plans with milestones.
• Work hands-on with Claude and Claude Science to explore hypotheses.
• Partner with research, product, and go-to-market to bring work to life.
• Communicate as a trusted scientific voice to technical and business audiences.

Skills

Scientific judgment

Cross-functional collaboration

Biotech fluency

Entrepreneurial mindset

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Claude Science

Job description

About the company

the company’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About the role

As part of our growing investment in building capabilities for drug discovery and development, we're looking for an exceptional biotech operator to help accelerate research in these areas. Our north star is to speed up progress in drug development by an order of magnitude, and this role is central to that goal: bringing sharp scientific judgment and operational expertise to identify where AI can have the greatest impact, and the drive to turn those insights into real results.

This role is for an entrepreneurial operator with proven hands‑on experience generating and translating therapeutic hypotheses in a biotech setting. You should be self‑directed and multi‑disciplinary—equally comfortable shaping the strategic direction of our life sciences work, partnering closely with our research, product, and go‑to‑market teams, or working hands‑on with Claude, including tools like Claude Science, to explore hypotheses, design and analyze research, and demonstrate what's newly possible for scientists.

The ideal candidate has grown up professionally in an organization that prioritizes scientific and executional rigor— for example, at a high‑growth life sciences company or a leading science‑focused investment or venture firm—and brings a rare blend of scientific depth, operating ability, and biotech fluency.

Key responsibilities

• Identify and prioritize the areas where AI can most meaningfully accelerate life sciences research
• Turn promising scientific ideas into concrete, well‑scoped efforts and see them through with speed and ownership
• Translate ambiguous scientific questions into structured, testable plans with clear milestones
• Work hands‑on with Claude and Claude Science to explore hypotheses, design and analyze research, and show what's newly possible
• Partner across research, product, and go‑to‑market to shape strategy and bring scientific work to life
• Serve as a trusted scientific voice, communicating clearly with both technical and business audiences

Minimum qualifications

• A strong scientific and operating background with direct experience taking ideas from concept to results in a company setting; MD/PhD not required
• Have grown up professionally in a multidisciplinary role at a high‑growth life sciences company or a leading science‑focused investment or venture firm
• Previously founded or joined as a founding team member of a biotechnology startup
• Excellent scientific taste and entrepreneurial instinct—a track record of identifying and capitalizing on compelling opportunities before they are obvious
• The wherewithal to execute independently; you are senior enough to have real judgment, but hands‑on enough to build things yourself
• A unique blend of scientific and business literacy, and are comfortable moving fluidly between the two

Preferred qualifications

• 7+ years of direct experience taking ideas from concept to results in a company setting
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and building in a fast‑moving, frontier environment

Annual Salary: $300,000 — $320,000 USD

Logistics

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience

Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience

Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position

Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices.

Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.

We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team.

Your safety matters to us. To protect yourself from potential scams, remember that the company recruiters only contact you from@the company.com email addresses.