Scientist - Ensemble Structural Informatics

Astera Institute; California (MO); On-site; USD 100,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative research organization in California is seeking a Scientist for the diffUSE Project to develop infrastructure for dynamic structural biology. You will lead design efforts for an ensemble-aware database and collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams. Candidates should have a Ph.D. and expertise in structural biology. This full-time role offers a competitive salary range of $100K - $180K based on experience. Join our unique mission of advancing scientific progress.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in structural biology, biophysics, computational biology, or related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in structural biology methods.
• Deep understanding of structural heterogeneity and dynamics in biomolecular systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead the conceptual design of an ensemble‑aware database architecture.
• Identify and prioritize technical challenges.
• Oversee the development of validation frameworks.

Skills

Structural biology methods

Understanding of structural heterogeneity and dynamics

Collaborative skills

Education

Ph.D. in structural biology, biophysics, computational biology, or related field

Tools

Experience with PDB, EMDB, BMRB, or other structural biology databases

Job description

About Astera

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward an abundant future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to dramatically accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive scientific progress.

Unlike traditional non‑profit research organizations, projects supported by Astera operate like high‑velocity startups, allowing us to focus on ambitious goals, match structure to problem, and attract strong technical talent and leadership. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming here.

Position Summary

The diffUSE Project is seeking a Scientist to join a multidisciplinary team to help build the infrastructure needed to host and distribute dynamic structural biology data. The diffUSE Project is an ambitious initiative designed to advance our understanding of protein dynamics by building the experimental methods, computational models, and global infrastructure needed to capture molecular motion at scale. Our goal is to establish dynamic structural biology as a foundational pillar of modern science, as transformative and indispensable as static structures have been.

This role will lead the development of standards and platforms that enable the community to deposit, validate, search, and leverage dynamic structural information at scale. The job will involve helping to architect the foundational infrastructure, including metrics and encoding, to make dynamic structural biology data as accessible, trustworthy, and impactful as the Protein Data Bank has been for static structures. You will work at the intersection of structural biology, data science, and community standards development to build an ensemble‑aware, living database that evolves with algorithmic advances while maintaining scientific rigor and reproducibility.

This is a full-time position within the diffUSE Project, in‑person at Radial, a division of the Astera Institute.

Key Responsibilities

• Help lead the conceptual design of an ensemble‑aware database architecture that balances flexibility, scalability, and scientific integrity
• Identify and prioritize technical challenges, from data representation to validation frameworks to query interfaces
• Direct the design and implementation of infrastructure that enables continuous model improvement as algorithms advance, while preserving provenance, trust, and reproducibility
• Oversee development of ensemble‑aware validation frameworks that assess fit‑to‑data, physical realism, and uncertainty across diverse structural representations
• Guide the creation of data deposition, search, and retrieval tools that allow users to interrogate and interpret structural heterogeneity at scale
• Help coordinate with stakeholders to ensure interoperability and adoption
• Work with software developers, data engineers, and user experience designers to translate scientific requirements into robust technical solutions

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Ph.D. in structural biology, biophysics, computational biology, or related field
• Demonstrated expertise in structural biology methods
• Deep understanding of structural heterogeneity and dynamics in biomolecular systems
• Experience with data standards, metadata frameworks, or scientific database development
• Strong collaborative skills and ability to build consensus across diverse scientific communities

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with PDB, EMDB, BMRB, or other structural biology databases
• Knowledge of validation methods for experimental and computational structural data
• Familiarity with machine learning workflows and ML‑ready data formats
• Background in model uncertainty quantification or ensemble refinement methods
• Understanding of software development practices and data engineering principles
• Track record of working at the interface of methods development and infrastructure

Compensation

The posted salary range is based on location in the Bay Area. The successful candidate will receive a competitive compensation package, commensurate with their experience and location. Compensation Range: $100K - $180K