Remote Principal AI Scientist (Polytope Bio)

Description:

• Astera is a private foundation focused on advancing science and technology for an abundant future.
• Polytope Bio is a residency project at Astera developing a post-training engine to connect AI models with high-throughput biology, enabling new applications in generative biology.
• The Principal AI Scientist will shape the AI research program, develop reinforcement learning methods, and work hands-on with model training and evaluation.

Requirements:

• PhD in machine learning, computational biology, or related field with 2-5 years of industry research experience (or equivalent).
• Experience training models from scratch and debugging them.
• Familiarity with generative diffusion models and transformer architectures.
• Deep knowledge of reinforcement learning and preference-optimization methods.
• Proven research track record and a builder mindset.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and comfort with ambiguity.

Benefits:

• Competitive base salary of $250,000 to $350,000.
• Potential for a co-founding leadership role in a future spinout.
• Opportunity to author high-impact datasets, methods, and models.
• Access to significant resources and dedicated GPU infrastructure.
• Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance and retirement plan.