Staff Research Scientist, AI Safety

The Team

Our AI research team sits at the heart of our mission to unlock new dimensions of biological understanding. You will leverage state-of-the-art AI to accelerate discovery and drive transformative insights in biology—developing novel AI models purpose-built for biological research, engineering robust systems that enable breakthrough science at unprecedented scale, and translating these advances into practical tools that empower researchers worldwide.

Our approach is comprehensive and integrated, bringing together world-class AI model development, exceptional engineering talent, high-quality biological data, powerful computing infrastructure, and strategic partnerships. Success requires excellence across five interconnected pillars: training frontier AI models specifically for biology; building engineering systems that maximize research velocity and efficiency; executing a sophisticated data strategy that fuels AI development; operating a world-class AI compute platform; and creating impactful products that transform AI capabilities into accessible scientific tools.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to shape the future of biological research by pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in science. You’ll work alongside leading experts in AI and biology, with the resources and mandate to tackle some of the most important questions in human health—advancing frontier AI research, accelerating engineering velocity, connecting rich biological data to AI systems, enabling reliable compute across environments, and translating models and data into usable, scalable applications that drive scientific impact for the public good.

The Staff Research Scientist is part of the AI Research team, which focuses on training AI models in biology and reasoning at the frontier of data, scale and compute. We are a mostly flat organization of researchers to enable rapid and dynamic AI development. 

What You'll Do

• Rigorously think through important open scientific questions that don’t have textbook answers.
• Design and build safety evaluations to understand AI capabilities at the frontier of biology.
• Collaborate closely with scientists across Biohub to build safeguards that are robust to potential misuse, enabling our AI systems to be used for maximum societal benefit .
• Gain direct access to a network of leading external experts and Biohub partners for collaboration and to inform your safety work. 
• Monitor capability advancements and emerging technologies across AI and assess how these advances impact the robustness of our safeguards.
• Partner closely with colleagues to develop, implement, and evolve our frontier safety policy.
• Communicate our safety work to internal teams as well as external partners. 

What You'll Bring

• PhD in computer science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Expertise in biological sciences.
• Significant experience building, using, and/or evaluating deep learning systems, ideally in research-driven environments.
• Strong engineering and scientific fundamentals.
• Comfort with ambiguity, rapid iteration, and loosely-defined research problems.
• Strong communication skills across technical and scientific audiences.
• Interest in shaping the frontier of safety for AI & biology, no prior safety experience required.

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA and New York City, NY base pay range for a new hire in this role is $241,000 - $301,000.  New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

Pay ranges outside Redwood City, CA and New York City, NY are adjusted based on cost of labor in each respective geographical market. Your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your location during the hiring process.

This position may be eligible to participate in our discretionary annual performance bonus program. Bonus eligibility and targets are determined in accordance with our total rewards philosophy and may vary by role.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in-office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager's discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You 

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice. 
• Funding for select family-forming benefits. 
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

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