Head of AI

At Basecamp Research we're looking for a Head of AI to join our team.

About us and about this opportunity

At Basecamp Research we believe the future of the biotech industry will be built upon the combination of foundational data sets, constructed from the wealth of diversity we see in nature, with state of the art AI algorithms. This is why we are building the largest, most sophisticated, entirely ethically sampled database of natural biodiversity in existence, because we know that biodiversity is one of our planet's most important and valuable assets. We have already demonstrated our ability to build SOTA models for a variety of tasks in biology and after successfully closing our $60 million series B raise, we are currently expanding our team and compute resources to build the next generation of biological foundation models. The Head of AI role at Basecamp Research marks an exciting opportunity to be a leader in this expansion & manage a growing team of incredible AI talent.

Responsibilities

1. Lead and manage a team of AI/ML researchers/engineers, providing technical guidance and fostering a culture of innovation.
2. Oversee the development and implementation of novel AI/ML models and algorithms.
3. Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams of bioinformaticians, lab scientists, the product team, and software engineers to define research objectives and translate findings into practical applications.
4. Manage and prioritize multiple research projects, ensuring alignment with company goals and timelines.
5. Help oversee production-grade implementations of new AI models.
6. Mentor team members, fostering their growth as AI researchers and engineers.
7. Represent Basecamp Research's AI capabilities at conferences, in publications, and in collaborations with academic and industry partners.

Requirements

1. A graduate degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Biology, or a related field.
2. 5+ years of industry experience in AI/ML research, with at least 3 years in a technical lead or managerial role.
3. Strong publication record or demonstrated expertise in areas such as generative AI, deep learning, or computational biology.
4. Experience applying AI techniques to biological problems, particularly in protein design or DNA/genomics.
5. Proven track record of leading successful AI research projects and translating research into practical applications.
6. Excellent communication skills, able to explain complex AI concepts to diverse audiences.
7. Experience training large generative models, including experience with large-scale multi-node training on HPC GPUs or in the cloud (AWS/Lambda/Azure preferred).
8. Strong problem-solving skills and ability to think critically about AI research challenges.

Additional Skills/Experience (desired but not required):

1. Presenter at prestigious AI conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML or similar.
2. Experience with protein and DNA bioinformatics.
3. Experience with / knowledge of graph algorithms and neo4j / cypher.
4. Software engineering skills and knowledge of data pipelining (e.g. via Airflow) and prior experience of cloud-based ML model deployment.
5. Experience with Agile systems.

What we can offer you in return:

1. An unparalleled data advantage with biological data supply chains from 5 continents and a database.
2. The opportunity to be a leader in building the next generation of biological foundation models.
3. Academic and industry partnerships with leaders in the field.
4. A multidisciplinary, fast-paced, and supportive work environment.
5. A wide range of benefits including private health insurance, cycle-to-work scheme, funding for personal development & unlimited courses (Pluralsight, Coursera etc.), and much more.

Do you want to join our team as our new Head of AI? Then we'd love to hear about you!