Director / Senior Director, Machine Learning for Biology
Altoslabs · San Diego, CA; San Francisco Bay Area, CA
About this role
**Director / Senior Director, Machine Learning for Biology** **About Altos Labs** - Our mission is to restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation to reverse disease, injury, and disabilities that can occur throughout life. - Learn more: https://altoslabs.com - Altos emphasizes **Belonging** and building an inclusive environment where everyone’s perspectives are valued. **What you’ll contribute** Altos is looking for a **Director or Senior Director-level ML Scientist** to lead machine learning capabilities within the **Institute of Computing (IoC)**—deep enough to be hands-on in technical work, and senior enough to set strategic direction across the institute’s most ambitious programs. **Key responsibilities** - Partner with IoC leadership to co-define and steer the core technical agenda, prioritizing the most critical biological questions where ML can drive breakthroughs in cell rejuvenation and resilience. - Build and maintain strong cross-functional partnerships across Altos. - Lead a team of ML Scientists and Engineers while staying hands-on to provide direct technical guidance across high-impact ML programs. - Provide technical and strategic guidance on ML project design and de-risking across multiple teams. - Mentor and grow the team through training, coaching, and active recruitment. - Lead effectively in a matrixed environment—shaping technical direction even outside your direct reporting line. **Who you are** - Deep expertise in modern AI/ML methods and large-scale training, applied to biological data modalities (e.g., single-cell, perturbation-response, spatial, sequence). - Broad mastery across AI/ML areas, including: - Reasoning and open-ended learning frameworks for scientific hypothesis generation/evaluation - Foundation model pretraining, fine-tuning, and post-training (e.g., RL, distillation, fine-tuning, hallucination reduction, alignment with scientific discovery) - Multimodal generative/predictive architectures (e.g., normalizing flows, diffusion models, LLMs) for out-of-distribution generalization in biology - Hybrid modeling approaches (e.g., identifiability, robustness, regularized/interpretable methods such as anchor or energy-based models) - Biological task applications (e.g., target identification) - Semantic-based dynamic inference, virtual cell/world model paradigms - Proven track record leading innovative biological ML projects to success, including anticipating and mitigating failure modes at scale. - Strategic thinking with the ability to execute with pace. - Commitment to continuous learning and technical innovation. - Strong curiosity and ability to separate AI trends from hype. **Minimum qualifications** - **PhD** in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related quantitative field. - Level depends on experience and track record in biotech or AI-driven life sciences: - **Director:** PhD + 10+ years experience; **4–5+ years** people management - **Senior Director:** PhD + 14+ years experience; **7–8+ years** people/team leadership; demonstrated ability to drive multiple programs across multidisciplinary teams **Compensation (hiring ranges)** - **Redwood City, CA** - Director: **$297,400 – $381,300** - Senior Director: **$366,800 – $470,200** - **San Diego, CA** - Director: **$273,900 – $351,100** - Senior Director: **$337,700 – $432,900** - Exact compensation may vary by skills, experience, and location. **Equal Opport
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