Senior Scientist, Cardiac Modeling

insitro; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 156,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with employer matching

Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage

Open, flexible vacation policy

Paid parental leave

Professional development budget

Monthly stipend for cell phone and internet

Free onsite baristas and daily lunch

Free commuter bus network

Job summary

insitro is seeking a Senior Scientist for its cardiac disease biology team in South San Francisco. This pivotal role involves working on iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte models to advance our ML-driven drug discovery efforts. You will design experiments, optimize workflows, and collaborate across disciplines to fuel scientific innovation.

The ideal candidate has a Ph.D. and extensive experience in cardiovascular biology, focusing on disease mechanisms. Competitive benefits include a starting salary of $156K-$166K alongside flexible vacation policies and robust health coverage.

Qualifications

• Deep hands-on experience in iPSC culture and cardiac directed differentiation.
• Track record building genetic iPSC-CM disease models for cardiovascular mechanisms.
• Strong foundational knowledge of cardiomyocyte biology.

Responsibilities

• Lead the generation and maintenance of iPSC lines for cardiomyocyte differentiation.
• Design and optimize iPSC-CM assays for data quality.
• Contribute to target identification using cellular phenotypes.

Skills

iPSC culture

Cardiac physiology

Genetic disease modeling

High-content imaging

Scientific communication

Education

Ph.D. in cell biology, biomedical engineering, or related field

Tools

Automated microscopy platforms

Job description

The Opportunity

insitro is a physical AI company dedicated to unlocking causal human biology and accelerating the delivery of better medicines to patients. Our unique Virtual Human™ platform identifies novel, high-impact genetic intervention points, which our TherML™ platform translates into therapeutics—whether small molecules, biologics, or oligos. With multiple programs in metabolic disease and neuroscience advancing toward the clinic, and our first IND submission slated for the second half of this year, we are at a pivotal inflection point.

We are seeking a Senior Scientist to join our cardiac disease biology team. In this role, you will own the development and application of iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte (iPSC-CM) models to study the genetic and molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease — working at the intersection of human stem cell biology, cardiac physiology, and scalable experimental platforms to generate the datasets that fuel our ML-driven drug discovery efforts. You will design and execute experiments, optimize differentiation and assay workflows, and partner closely with ML scientists, computational biologists, and chemists to connect cellular phenotypes to disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Based in South San Francisco, this position reports directly to Vice President, Cardiometabolic Disease - Translational Genetics and requires you to be onsite at our South San Francisco office 5 days per week.

Responsibilities

iPSC-CM Platform & Model Development

• Differentiation & QC: Lead the generation, characterization, and maintenance of iPSC lines and their differentiation into cardiomyocytes, with rigorous quality control at each stage of the pipeline
• 2D & 3D Formats: Design, implement, and optimize iPSC-CM assays in both 2D monolayer and 3D/engineered heart tissue (EHT) formats, with a focus on scalability and data quality
• Genetic Disease Models: Build and apply isogenic iPSC-CM disease models — including CRISPR-edited lines carrying disease-associated variants — to study cardiovascular pathophysiology

Functional Assays & Disease Modeling

• Functional Readouts: Develop readouts of cardiomyocyte biology relevant to disease — contractility, electrophysiology, calcium handling, stress responses — in formats compatible with high-throughput data acquisition
• Rigor & Reproducibility: Drive documentation, SOPs, and data standards that ensure reproducible, publication-quality results across the cardiac biology platform

ML & Cross-functional Partnership

• Experiment Design for ML: Partner with ML and computational biology teams to design experiments that generate high-quality training data and to interpret model outputs in biological context
• Target Identification: Contribute to target identification and validation efforts by connecting cellular phenotypes to human genetic evidence

Scientific Leadership

• Mentorship: Mentor junior scientists and technicians, and contribute to a collaborative, scientifically rigorous team culture

About You

Experience & Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Ph.D. in cell biology, biomedical engineering, cardiac physiology, or a related field, with at least 3 years of industry experience
• iPSC-CM Expertise: Deep hands‑on experience in iPSC culture, cardiac directed differentiation, and iPSC-CM characterization across both 2D and 3D/EHT platforms
• Genetic Disease Modeling: Track record building and applying genetic iPSC-CM disease models — patient-derived lines, CRISPR-edited isogenic pairs — to study cardiovascular mechanisms
• Cardiovascular Biology: Strong foundational knowledge of cardiomyocyte biology and cardiovascular disease
• High‑Content Imaging: Experience with high‑content imaging and/or automated microscopy platforms, including image analysis pipelines
• Human Genetics: Familiarity with GWAS and human genetic evidence, and experience using these data to prioritize disease mechanisms or therapeutic targets
• Scientific Communication: Track record of executing rigorous experiments and communicating findings clearly in publications, presentations, or internal reports

Core Competencies

• ML Curiosity: You're enthusiastic about working alongside ML scientists and understand how experimental design shapes what a model can learn
• Builder Mentality: You thrive building systems from the ground up and bring the same rigor to a new workflow as to a published experiment
• Cross‑functional Collaborator: You work fluidly across biology, computation, and chemistry, and communicate clearly across disciplines
• Independent & Adaptive: You drive projects forward independently in a fast‑paced environment while staying aligned with team priorities

Compensation & Benefits at insitro

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $156,000 - $166,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job‑related factors including a candidate's skills, education and experience, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and our Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

In addition, insitro also provides our employees:

• 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well‑being support
• Open, flexible vacation policy
• Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
• Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self‑development
• New hire stipend for home office setup
• Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
• Access to free onsite baristas and daily lunch for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
• Access to a free commuter bus network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area

insitro is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the foundation of our culture. We work hard to bring together diverse teams—grounded in a wide range of expertise and life experiences—and work even harder to ensure those teams thrive in inclusive, growth‑oriented environments supported by equitable company and team practices. All candidates can expect equitable treatment, respect, and fairness throughout the interview process.

Please be aware of recruitment scams: we never request payments, all recruitment communications are from insitro.com, and if in doubt, contact us at [e-mail].

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