Senior / Principal Machine Learning Scientist

Altos Labs
Redwood City, CA / San Diego, CA2025-12-02

About the job

As a Senior or Principal Machine Learning Scientist, you will play a prominent role in developing generative AI/ML models for multi-modal, multiscale biology from virtual cells to agentic target assessment. We are looking for a hands-on, creative, and collaborative individual to join our multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers focused on transforming how we treat aging and disease. The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment that emphasizes teamwork, transparency, scientific excellence, originality, rigor, and integrity.

Responsibilities

Pioneer novel machine learning methodologies and statistical frameworks (e.g., generative models, causal inference, diffusion models, and advanced transformer architectures) to address fundamental challenges in cell health and rejuvenation

Contribute to setting the long-term technical vision and research strategy for a core domain (e.g., multi-modal data fusion, perturbation modeling) within the Institute of Computation

Translate your deep understanding of the mathematical and theoretical underpinnings of cutting-edge AI research into high-impact applications

Design, implement, and optimize large-scale machine learning systems using modern frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX) and agile practices

Develop and manage efficient distributed training strategies across multiple GPUs and compute clusters to handle terabytes of multi-modal biological data

Develop robust approaches for multi-modal data integration and cross-domain mapping to extract actionable biological insights

Apply computational thinking to solve problems in drug target identification, compound assessment, and prediction of cellular perturbation responses

Lead the full ML development lifecycle from theoretical conception and data strategy through model development, training, and evaluation

Act as a key technical mentor to Machine Learning Scientists and Engineers, raising the bar for scientific rigor and model robustness across the organization.

Qualifications

Minimum

Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, demonstrating a deep theoretical foundation in ML/AI.

6+ years of of relevant post-PhD work experience in either an academic or industry setting

Proven experience developing and applying complex machine learning models, preferably with a significant portion of that time spent in a fast-paced industry or translational research environment.

A strong track record of leading and publishing innovative, peer-reviewed research in top-tier ML conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR) or high-impact scientific journals.

Excellent scientific communication skills: verbally and in writing; with computational and non-computational audiences, in informal 1-1 settings, team meetings, and formal seminars

Expertise in several of the following: deep learning, reinforcement learning, generative models, language models, computer vision, Bayesian inference, causal reasoning & inference, transfer & multi-task learning, graph neural networks, active learning, hybrid mechanistic/ML models

Proven experience applying sophisticated ML techniques to molecular and cell biological data sets (e.g., NGS, spatial omics, bioimaging).

Preferred

Experience in cell health and rejuvenation related research area

Experience in the application of machine learning methods to biological data

Experience in computational approaches to drug discovery

Experience with software development methodologies and open-source software