Head of Biology

About the role

The Role Output has built a biological reasoning model that understands biology at the scale and complexity life actually operates. Our model independently learned the principles of molecular interactions, opening up drug treatments that were previously impossible. We're already generating therapies that traditional approaches cannot reach. The hardest problems in both AI and biology are being solved here, and there is room for you to own one.

Responsibilities

• Own the feedback loop between Output's models and the lab.
  • Designing experiments, managing CRO partners for synthesis and testing, interpreting results, and feeding them back to improve the models.
• Dive into specific biological problem areas, developing the expertise needed to translate nuanced biological requirements into priorities for data construction, modeling, and evaluation.
• Manage CRO relationships for peptide and molecular synthesis, biological assays, and experimental testing, designing each campaign to generate maximally informative data.
• Collaborate with the engineering team to design and build biology-specific agent skills and workflows, encoding your biological expertise into tools that automate experimental decision-making.
• Work closely with the model and data teams, identifying biological phenomena the models should be sensitive to and ensuring that experimental findings shape what and how the models learn.
• Stay current with biological literature and experimental methods, continuously identifying new biological problems and translating them into opportunities for model development.

Requirements

• A PhD in computational biology, biophysics, structural biology, molecular biology, or a related biological field with 3+ years of post-doctoral or industry research experience.
• Deep understanding of protein biology, protein-ligand interactions, and how sequence and structure relate to biological function.
• Experience designing biological experiments and working with CROs for synthesis and experimental validation.
• Experience working with protein language models or machine learning applied to biological sequences and structures.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with experience building computational pipelines and analysis tools.
• Ability to move between the language of biology and the language of machine learning: understanding what models need from data and what experimental results mean for model development.
• Comfortable going deep into unfamiliar biological problem areas and rapidly developing the expertise needed to guide modeling and experimental decisions.

Qualifications

• Bonus points for structural biology expertise, including protein structure analysis and structure-function relationships.
• Bonus points for experience with active learning or iterative experimental design in a computational biology or drug discovery setting.
• Bonus points for hands-on wet lab experience.
• Bonus points for experience across multiple therapeutic modalities, including peptides.
• Bonus points for experience building tools or writing code that automates biological analysis workflows.

Skills

• Strong programming skills in Python.
• Understanding of protein biology and protein-ligand interactions.
• Experience with machine learning applied to biological sequences and structures.
• Ability to move between the language of biology and the language of machine learning.
• Experience with active learning or iterative experimental design.
• Hands-on wet lab experience.
• Experience across multiple therapeutic modalities, including peptides.
• Experience building tools or writing code that automates biological analysis workflows.

Benefits

• Healthy feedback focused environment to help you strive - leadership will have high expectations, regularly share constructive feedback, support you and help you grow, and welcome receiving feedback and ideas from you.
• Competitive salary and equity in a growing, well-funded startup.
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Pay

• Competitive salary and equity in a growing, well-funded startup.

Schedule

• Flexible schedule to accommodate the needs of the position and the team.