Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Why this Role is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Although the work sits in BioML, the role reflects a pattern increasingly relevant in SaaS: AI-first companies building product capability around proprietary models and data. Profluent appears to be an early-stage, well-funded organization where machine learning is the core differentiator, which makes the position notable for professionals tracking where applied research and product development converge.
For a long-term SaaS career, this kind of role builds durable strengths in taking models from concept to measurable performance, including dataset design, evaluation discipline, and iteration speed. Experience collaborating across research and downstream validation functions also maps well to modern SaaS environments where ML teams partner closely with product, platform, and domain specialists to ship reliable capabilities rather than standalone experiments.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
Profluent is an AI-first protein design company. Founded in 2022, we develop deep generative models to design and validate novel, functional proteins to revolutionize biomedicine. Based in Emeryville, CA, we are backed by leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, and Convergent Ventures, and have raised over $150M to date.
We're looking for a motivated and creative Machine Learning (ML) Scientist to drive research into models at the intersection of complex protein biology and AI. This position offers an opportunity to work at the forefront of generative modeling research across language processing, representation learning, and protein engineering. You should be a self-directed researcher who has the ability to rapidly prototype and evaluate new models and algorithms in the biomolecular domain.
As an early employee, you will proactively shape the direction of our machine learning efforts and collaborate across diverse teams of computational and experimental scientists.
Responsibilities
- Design and develop state-of-the-art predictive and generative models incorporating domain-specific evolutionary and experimental data
- Leverage massive-scale protein and nucleic acid data to train specialized models for protein understanding and design
- Curate relevant datasets and design tasks for rigorous evaluation of generative models
- Collaborate across the machine learning and protein design teams to adapt and apply techniques for experimental validation
- Implement, analyze, and interpret multiple computational approaches and present results to colleagues in regular update meetings
- Work within a collaborative, fast-paced, interdisciplinary team across biology and machine learning to help shape the scientific and strategic vision of the company
Qualifications
- PhD (or equivalent industry experience) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Applied Math, Computational Biology, Statistics, or a related field
- Experience with conceiving of, implementing, and evaluating novel machine learning techniques at the intersection with biology
- Publications at major machine learning conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR) or scientific journals (Nature, Science, Nature Biotech, Nature Methods, PNAS)
- Experience with modern deep learning frameworks such as Pytorch or Jax
Preferences
- Familiarity with foundational biology of proteins and nucleic acids
- Experience developing machine learning models for proteins (language models, structure prediction, design)
- Experience with cloud compute platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure, OCI)
- Previous experience in data extraction and curation from bioinformatics data sources
- Familiarity with wet lab experimental assays and associated limitations
- 3 to 5 years of industry experience
What We Offer
- High-growth opportunity with meaningful impact on the future of protein design
- Competitive compensation package with equity participation
- 401(k) with a strong employer match
- Comprehensive benefits including health/dental/vision insurance
- Generous PTO policy and commitment to work-life balance
- Professional development opportunities in a cutting-edge field at the intersection of AI and biology
Profluent Bio, Inc is an equal opportunity employer promoting diversity and inclusion in the workspace. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding), genetic information, taking or requesting statutorily protected leave, or any other basis protected by law.
Employment Eligibility Verification
Legal authorization to work in the United States is required. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired must verify their identity and work eligibility and complete the required employment verification form upon hire.
Hiring Salary Range
$200,000—$330,000 USD
