ML Scientist: Nucleic Acid Design & Sequence Innovation

Lilasciences; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 176,000 - 304,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Life and disability insurance

Paid time off and holidays

Parental leave

Educational assistance

Commuter benefits

Lunch program

Equity

Job summary

Lila Sciences is seeking an ML Scientist I/II, Nucleic Acid Design to advance RNA and DNA sequence design. You will build models, design strategies, and collaborate with experimental scientists to connect sequence to function across regulatory and coding contexts.

The role blends machine learning, sequence modeling, and platform development, with opportunities to explore regulatory genomics, RNA biology, and synthesis-to-design pipelines in a fast-moving autonomous science environment.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent experience in machine learning, computational biology, bioengineering, computer science, statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Hands-on experience building, training, and evaluating ML models for DNA or RNA.
• Strong foundation in modern ML methods, with practical experience using frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, or equivalent tools.
• Experience developing models for sequence design, sequence-function prediction, generative modeling, or active learning.

Responsibilities

• Build ML models for RNA and DNA sequence design across regulatory and coding sequence contexts.
• Develop methods spanning de novo generation, sequence property prediction, diverse set selection for experimental validation, and active learning strategies.
• Deeply investigate the biological mechanisms of designed sequences and propose hypotheses about why they succeed or fail, turning insights into better models and future design principles.
• Partner with experimental scientists to propose informative assays, validation strategies, and learning loops.
• Collaborate with ML scientists and engineers across Lila to integrate nucleic acid design models into robust platforms and agent-driven frameworks.
• Stay current with research in nucleic acid biology, sequence design, and scientific ML, and share findings externally.

Skills

ML model development

DNA/RNA sequence design

PyTorch

JAX

Active learning

Python

Education

PhD or equivalent in ML/comp bio/CS

Tools

Python

JAX

Job description

Lila Sciences is seeking an ML Scientist I/II, Nucleic Acid Design to advance RNA and DNA sequence design. You will build models, design strategies, and collaborate with experimental scientists to connect sequence to function across regulatory and coding contexts.

The role blends machine learning, sequence modeling, and platform development, with opportunities to explore regulatory genomics, RNA biology, and synthesis-to-design pipelines in a fast-moving autonomous science environment.