Translational Scientist (Senior)

Bioptimus is building the first universal AI foundation model for biology to fuel breakthrough discoveries and accelerate innovation in biomedicine. With more than $75M in funding, Bioptimus is a fast-growing start-up headquartered in Paris, incorporated in October 2023. Backed by leading international venture capitalists, our world-class team of scientists and engineers is redefining the frontiers of AI and life sciences.

About the role

We are seeking a creative and highly motivated Senior Translational Scientist to join Bioptimus’ R&D team and contribute to our work on patient outcome and treatment-response prediction. You will be supporting the existing team of strong AI researchers as well as experienced computational biologists to drive our long-term research ambition. The successful candidate will translate mechanistic insights into target and biomarker hypotheses relevant for patient outcome prediction.

As Senior Translational Scientist at Bioptimus you will accelerate biomedical discoveries through our models and link them directly to medical treatments and patient care. You will bridge the gap between traditional approaches in biology, clinical practice and the state-of-the-art foundation models built by our team to discover novel biomarkers, and improve real-world healthcare and clinical trial success.

We are currently seeking to fill multiple roles within this team at Bioptimus and you will be working in close collaboration with the Senior Research Scientist - Treatment Response Prediction and Biomarker Discovery and additionally the Clinical Data Manager at Bioptimus.

What you'll be doing

As Senior Translational Scientist, you will own the following tasks:

• Discovery & Research: Dive into clinical, histopathological, and spatial transcriptomics data across the Bioptimus data corpus to investigate tumor biology, accelerating translational research with the potential to discover novel biomarkers predictive of response and/or resistance to treatment.
• Strategic impact: As a member of our R&D team, you will actively shape Bioptimus' mission to learn the dynamics of human biology.
• Collaboration & Communication: Work with the R&D team to guide model development and interpretability and design features relevant for clinical outcome. Further you will operate in close collaboration with the Clinical Data Manager to ensure our data stays closely linked to the discoveries we want to generate.
• Professional development: Join a world-class team of frontier AI/ML researchers and experts with deep biological expertise and be first in-line as we change the biomedical landscape. ****Stay up-to-date with latest discoveries in terms of modalities and clinical decision making for oncology and immunology.

What you'll bring

The successful candidate will have a ‘team-first’ attitude; be independent, curious, and exceptionally detail-oriented; thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment; and be fun to work with. We value individuals who bring deep domain expertise, coupled with a passion for demonstrating the tangible impact of AI on real biology.

• Educational Background: Advanced clinical/ science degree (PhD, PharmD, MD). E.g., Ph.D. in cancer biology, molecular biology, genomics, or a related field. Or alternatively, MD with a strong background in oncology and exposure to computational concepts.
• Translational oncology expertise: Strong understanding of cancer biology, tumor evolution, immune microenvironment, therapeutic mechanisms, response/resistance biology, and how these connect to patient outcomes.
• Clinical trial design: Solid understanding of clinical trials and oncology drug development to bridge it to cellular and molecular immunology.
• Biomarker Discovery: Experience with analyzing biological samples to identify disease indicators and guide targeted, personalized treatments.
• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent communication skills and willing to work in a collaborative environment with a multifunctional team spanning AI researchers and computational biologists.

How to stand out:

• CRC or NSCLC expertise: Deep expertise in preferably colorectal cancer or lung cancer with previous projects targeted around either of the two.
• Industry experience: 1+ year in a clinical/ medical/ pharmaceutical or biotechnology environment.
• Strong publication record: Track record of lead-author publications in cancer biology or oncology at high-impact journals (Nature, Science, Cell, Nucleic Acids Research, Genome Biology, …)
• Hands-on experience with key biological modalities: You have worked with at least one of the following modalities: H&E, bulk-RNAseq, spatial transcriptomics, spatial proteomics, single-cell RNA-seq or high-content/pooled perturbation screens.
• Familiarity with computational biology workflows: Ability to leverage Python and reproducible computational workflows to query and analyze complex, longitudinal clinical datasets.
• Knowledge of novel modalities for drug discovery: Experience or prior knowledge on small molecules, nucleic acids, peptides, enzymes, antibodies, cell therapies and stem cell treatments.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with clinical trial governance and healthcare policies required to bring interventions to market.

The candidate journey

To be considered, please submit your CV in English.

We believe in a transparent and collaborative interview process. We need to find a fit for both you and the company. Here is what you can expect after submitting your application:

• Screening: A 30-minute introductory call with the Hiring Manager to discuss your background, motivations, and the position in more detail.
• Interviews: Following a successful screening, you will be invited to a series of interviews:
1. Translational Research - Panel talk: In order to evaluate your domain expertise in oncology, we will ask you to prepare a panel talk presented to our team of AI researchers and computational biologists. During this panel we will evaluate how comfortable you are to present and draft ideas in front of a cross-functional, multidisciplinary team.
2. [Optional] Technical Assessment: Depending on your background, the panel talk will be followed by a more technical assessment designed to evaluate your practical skills.
3. Executive Interview: A comprehensive discussion with our Senior Leadership team focused on long-term vision, collaboration style, values, and mutual fit.
• Offer: Following the completion of the interviews, our hiring team will make a final decision and will be in touch to share the outcome of your interviews. If the team would like to move forward, the recruiter will discuss the details of our proposed offer with you.
• Onboarding: We are happy to have you joining the team. Once you have accepted and signed your offer, we will be in touch to begin the process of onboarding you to Bioptimus.

Why this is a unique opportunity

You will:

• Be part of a trailblazing team working at the intersection of AI, biotech, and biomedical research.
• Build and scale the data insights and hypothesis generation powered by state-of-the-art biomedical AI.
• Collaborate with leading hospitals, biobanks, researchers, and engineers across the globe.

And benefit from:

• A collaborative and mission-driven work environment.
• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Flexible work arrangements, including remote options.
• Opportunities for professional growth and leadership development.
• The opportunity to shape the future of biology and AI through groundbreaking work.

We believe that the unique contributions of all Bioptimists create our success. To ensure that our culture continues to incorporate everyone’s perspectives and experience, we never discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, or disability status. Decisions related to hiring are made fairly, and we provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates. We take responsibility for always striving to create an inclusive environment that makes every employee and candidate feel welcome.