Research Scientist - Multimodal Large Language Models (LLMs)

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco (CZ Biohub SF) (https://www.czbiohub.org/sf/) is an independent nonprofit research institute that brings together three powerhouse universities - Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco - into a single collaborative technology and discovery engine. CZ Biohub SF itself supports some of the brightest, boldest engineers, data scientists, and biomedical researchers to investigate the fundamental mechanisms underlying disease and develop new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies. We are guided by our values of scholarly excellence; disruptive innovation; hands-on engineering/hacking/building; partnership and collaboration; open communication and respect; inclusiveness; and opportunity for all.

Our Vision

• We pursue large scientific challenges that cannot be pursued in conventional environments
• We enable individual investigators to pursue their riskiest and most innovative ideas
• The technologies developed at CZ Biohub San Francisco facilitate research by scientists and clinicians at our home institutions and beyond

Diversity of thought, ideas, and perspectives are at the heart of CZ Biohub Network and enable disruptive innovation and scholarly excellence. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive organization where all colleagues feel inspired and know their work makes an important contribution.

The Opportunity

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub SF) is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Research Scientist to lead the development of state-of-the-art multimodal large language model (LLM) agents that will enable breakthrough research and discoveries in biology. We are interested in pursuing these new ideas for zebrafish, a powerful model organism, to understand mechanisms of infection and immunity, organ regeneration, and organismal development.  The ideal candidate will have established expertise in machine learning, generative AI, development of multimodal LLMs, and reinforcement learning for model tuning. The successful candidate will report directly to both Yasin Şenbabaoğlu (Director of Computational Biology) and Loïc A. Royer (Director of Imaging AI) at CZ Biohub, San Francisco.

You will

• Design, develop, and implement multimodal LLMs that integrate textual, multi-omic, and image data
• Lead the research and development of novel algorithms to process and align scientific literature with biological datasets for downstream analysis
• Collaborate closely with computational biologists and experimental scientists to understand domain-specific challenges and optimize model performance
• Manage large-scale datasets (scientific texts, omics data, and imaging) and build efficient data pipelines for training and evaluation
• Drive innovative research to publish in top-tier AI and computational biology journals and present at conferences
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning

You have

Required –

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics or a related field; or Masters with equivalent experience
• 3+ years of experience with Python and relevant deep learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow)
• 3+ years of experience in designing and deploying large-scale language models or multimodal AI systems
• Expertise in natural language processing (NLP), deep learning, and model training techniques
• Proven track record of impactful publications and conference presentations in relevant areas
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment
• Strong professional judgment and problem-solving abilities that adapt to a variety of situations
• Strong interpersonal skills with excellent written and verbal communication skills

Nice to have -

• Experience in integrating and aligning heterogeneous data sources (text, omics, images) for AI-driven applications
• Familiarity with scientific literature databases (e.g., PubMed, arXiv) and bioinformatics tools
• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) environments and cloud-based AI platforms
• Strong leadership and project management skills

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network requires all employees, regardless of work location or type of role, to provide proof of their initial COVID-19 vaccination by their start date. Those who are unable to get vaccinated because of a disability, or who choose not to be vaccinated due to a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance must have an approved exception prior to their start date.

Compensation

• $150,000 - $205,700

What We Provide

• Resources to disrupt and innovate at the frontiers of our knowledge of biology and disease
• A collegial and collaborative environment consisting of diverse expertise
• Existing collaborations within CZ Biohub: Technology Platforms (Bioengineering, Computational Microscopy, Data Science, Genomic Sequencing, Mass Spectrometry/Proteomics), and Research Group Leaders
• Access to collaborators, resources and facilities at our three partner universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco) and at partner organizations in the Bay Area and beyond
• Competitive compensation and benefits commensurate with experience

Benefits

We offer a robust benefits program that enables the important work Biohubbers do everyday. Our benefits include healthcare coverage, life and disability insurance, commuter subsidies, family planning services with fertility care, childcare stipend, 401(k) match, flexible time off and a generous parental leave policy. In addition, we honor our commitment to career development and our value of scholarly excellence through regular onsite opportunities to learn from the world's leading scientists.

The CZ Biohub Network is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity of thought, ideas and perspectives. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive organization where all Biohubbers feel inspired and know their work makes an important contribution. Therefore, we provide employment opportunities without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

Pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Headhunters and recruitment agencies may not submit resumes/CVs through this website or directly to managers. The CZ Biohub Network does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. The CZ Biohub Network will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with the CZ Biohub Network.