Senior AI Scientist: Protein Design & Discovery

Twist Bioscience; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 151,000 - 181,000; Full time

Job summary

Twist Bioscience is seeking a Senior/Staff Computational Scientist to develop AI solutions for protein design, discovery, and characterization. You will work across computational biology, ML, and experimental science, collaborating with researchers, software engineers, and customer-facing teams to design, evaluate, and select protein sequences for advancement.

The role emphasizes hands-on algorithm development with strong PLM expertise and experience in protein language models, transcripted

Qualifications

• PhD in computational biology, bioinformatics, ML, CS, protein science, or related field.
• 5+ years in industry developing algorithms for protein design, engineering, discovery, or sequence analysis.
• Experience applying AI/ML methods to proteins or biological sequences.
• Strong understanding of protein language models (PLMs) and sequence-structure-function relationships.
• Experience analyzing NGS data from biological selection or screening workflows.
• Strong programming in Python and familiarity with ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Ability to translate complex questions into validated computational methods and actionable results.
• Strong cross-functional communication and practical impact focus.

Responsibilities

• Develop algorithms that integrate protein sequences with NGS and experimental data to guide experiments and design cycles.
• Lead development of high-impact AI-enabled capabilities from concept through experimental validation.
• Develop AI/ML methods for designing, evaluating, and optimizing protein sequences.
• Apply PLMs to sequence generation, property prediction, and candidate prioritization.
• Collaborate with software and bioinformatics teams to integrate models into scalable research systems.
• Lead analyses for protein discovery programs, including sequence selection and clone prioritization.
• Collaborate across computational, experimental, engineering, and customer-facing teams.
• Move between research, software development, analysis, and troubleshooting as priorities evolve.

Skills

Python programming

PyTorch

TensorFlow

AI/ML for proteins

Cross-functional communication

Education

PhD in computational biology / related field

Tools

Biotech data analysis

Job description

Twist Bioscience is seeking a Senior/Staff Computational Scientist to develop AI solutions for protein design, discovery, and characterization. You will work across computational biology, ML, and experimental science, collaborating with researchers, software engineers, and customer-facing teams to design, evaluate, and select protein sequences for advancement.

The role emphasizes hands-on algorithm development with strong PLM expertise and experience in protein language models, transcripted