About the Role
We are an early-stage startup working at the intersection of AI and wet labs, operating within the aerospace and defense sector. This is a rare founding-level opportunity for a senior scientist who wants to shape both scientific strategy and company direction from day one. You will combine hands-on biological expertise with computational thinking to build core technology, define research direction, and bridge laboratory work with AI-driven workflows to accelerate discovery.
What You'll Do
- Define and lead the scientific vision and research roadmap for early-stage AI + wet-lab products.
- Design and execute key molecular biology, biochemistry, or genomics experiments to validate models and assays.
- Collaborate closely with engineers and ML researchers to translate experimental needs into computational requirements.
- Implement and oversee lab automation and data pipelines to scale experiments and improve reproducibility.
- Prototype computational tools and analyses; contribute code or notebooks to integrate wet-lab data with models.
- Mentor and recruit early scientific hires; establish laboratory best practices and safety standards.
- Apply AI/ML methods to biological data within aerospace and defense sector constraints.
What We're Looking For
Required:
- PhD in Biotechnology, Genomics, Biology, or a closely related field.
- Senior-level research experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, genomics, biotech, or a related discipline.
- Demonstrated experience applying AI/ML to biological data (computational biology or bioinformatics).
- Experience in aerospace or defense domains and understanding of sector-specific constraints.
- Comfortable with computational thinking and coding; ML experience is a plus but not required.
- Training or research background at leading research institutions or universities.
Nice to Have:
- Prior experience at AI-for-biology companies, biotech startups, or similar industry environments.
- Lab automation experience and enthusiasm for integrating AI with wet-lab workflows.
- Prior founder experience or direct experience scaling early-stage teams and operations.
- Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort with ambiguity in a fast-paced startup environment.