---
title: 'Associate Scientist/Scientist I,  Molecular Function at Profluent'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/associate-scientist-scientist-i-molecular-function-profluent-emeryville-rnr5zg7jejfc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# Associate Scientist/Scientist I,  Molecular Function at Profluent

- **Company:** Profluent
- **Location:** Emeryville, CA
- **Compensation:** $132k–$167k
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/profluent/jobs/5436260008

## Job description

Profluent is the frontier AI lab for biology. Profluent builds powerful foundation models for all of life's molecules, unlocking solutions that transform medicine, agriculture, and beyond. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Emeryville, CA, Profluent is backed by leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, and Convergent Ventures and has raised over $150M to date.

## The Role

Profluent is scaling the discovery engines that supply data for AI-driven antibody and protein design. We're hiring an experienced protein engineer to lead display campaigns and build high-throughput platforms for measuring protein-protein interactions (PPI) at scale.

This is primarily a bench role. You'll run your own campaigns, build and validate assays, and set the controls and QC that turn raw screening output into model-ready datasets, working closely with ML, protein design, automation, and bioinformatics colleagues.

## Responsibilities

- Build the founding high-throughput platforms for identifying and measuring protein-protein interactions.
- Lead phage display campaigns end-to-end, from library construction through panning, NGS, and hit validation.
- Design and troubleshoot selection strategies, including antigen selection, library QC, and stringency selections.
- Plan campaigns with ML and protein design scientists (targets, assays, readouts) and define what makes binding data fit for model training and evaluation.

## Qualifications

- MS (3 + years industry experience) or PhD in (0- 2 years industry experience), Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Protein Engineering, Biophysics, Immunology, or a related discipline.
- Deep hands-on experience with phage display and antibody discovery (required).
- Strong molecular biology skills for library construction.
- Solid understanding of NGS-based screening and how to turn sequencing data into quantitative measurements.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with careful attention to detail and record-keeping.

Preferences

- Experience in therapeutic antibody optimization: affinity maturation, developability, and format engineering.
- Experience in measuring binding kinetics and affinity by SPR or BLI/Octet, and epitope mapping.
- Familiarity with other display systems (yeast, mammalian, ribosome, or mRNA).
- Familiarity with lab automation platforms such as Hamilton or Tecan.
- Moving a new assay or platform into routine use; familiarity with LIMS and data/metadata schemas.

## 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. Hiring Salary Range $132,000—$167,000 USD

NOTICE TO STAFFING AND SEARCH FIRMS: Profluent does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions. We ask that agencies refrain from sending resumes to our careers inbox, hiring managers, or any Profluent employee. Any resume submitted without a signed agreement and an active search request from our Talent team will be treated as the property of Profluent, and no placement fee will be owed.

## About Profluent

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Profluent is an AI-first protein design company that develops deep generative models to design and validate novel, functional proteins for biomedicine, agriculture, and other industries.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B; total funding $150M)
- **Headquarters**: Emeryville, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Ali Madani (CEO), Alexander Meeske

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Genetic Medicine
- **Target customers**: B2B – pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, agricultural companies, and research institutions
- **Mission statement**: "Decode the language of life with AI" – using AI to author new biology and create solutions that transform medicine, agriculture, and beyond.

## Products & Services
- **OpenCRISPR**: The world's first AI-designed gene editor, made open-source to accelerate genome editing research. Based on a novel nuclease generated by Profluent's generative AI.
- **AI Protein Design Platform**: A proprietary platform that writes proteins from scratch or by reimagining natural scaffolds, enabling rapid design of proteins for therapeutic, industrial, and agricultural applications.
- **Partnerships (e.g., Eli Lilly)**: Collaborations to develop AI-designed recombinases for genetic medicine, with deal value up to $2.25 billion.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric (Total Funding)**: $150M raised across multiple rounds (Seed $9M in 2022, Venture Round $35M in 2024, Series B $106M in 2025)
- **Notable Investors**: Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, Convergent Ventures
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Headcount grew 78.4% YoY (53 employees as of mid-2026)
  - Published generative AI research in Nature (July 2025)
  - Secured a landmark partnership with Eli Lilly (up to $2.25B in milestones)
  - LinkedIn followers grew 67.8% in the past year (11,906 followers)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Pioneering AI-first protein design**: One of the few companies translating large language models (LLMs) to biology, with demonstrated ability to create functional gene editors from scratch.
- **Open-source gene editing**: OpenCRISPR-1 provides a freely available AI-designed nuclease, establishing thought leadership and potential ecosystem lock-in.
- **Cross-disciplinary team**: Combines top ML talent (from Salesforce, Meta, Amazon) with leading biologists (from CRISPR pioneers, UCSF, Harvard, Arc Institute).
- **Published in top journals**: Nature publication validates the scientific rigor of their approach.

## Strategic Focus
- Advance AI-designed recombinases for in vivo gene editing through the Lilly partnership
- Expand platform to design enzymes, antibodies, and industrial proteins
- Continue open-source releases to drive adoption and attract top research talent
- Scale headcount across ML, biology, and bioinformatics functions

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Mission**: Opportunity to work at the frontier of AI and biology, authoring new proteins that can transform medicine and agriculture. Team culture emphasizes curiosity, societal impact, and breakthrough science.
- **Work Policy**: Hybrid – most roles require 2-3 days on-site at the Emeryville, CA headquarters. Some lab-based roles (e.g., in vivo pharmacology, LNP formulation) are fully on-site.
- **Team mix**: Diverse backgrounds spanning ML science, structural biology, software engineering, and drug discovery. Flat structure with direct access to founders and top domain experts.
- **Notable perks**: Backed by top-tier investors; highly collaborative environment; opportunities to publish and release open-source work.
- **Growth trajectory**: Fast-growing company (78% headcount increase in last year) with substantial funding runway and a high-profile pharma partnership, offering strong career progression.

## Sources
1. [profluent.bio](https://www.profluent.bio/)
2. [Greenhouse Jobs at Profluent](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/profluent)
3. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/profluent-bio)
4. [CB Insights Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/profluent-bio)

## Other roles at Profluent

- [Scientist II, Screening](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-ii-screening-profluent-emeryville-w8cwf0b9p33k) — Emeryville, CA
- [Creative Director](https://feeny.ai/job/creative-director-profluent-emeryville-cv94hk1w8crp) — Emeryville, CA
- [Intern, Software Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/intern-software-engineering-profluent-emeryville-a5w9x433j908) — Emeryville, CA
- [Intern, Computational Research](https://feeny.ai/job/intern-computational-research-profluent-emeryville-6yfqayz8phk6) — Emeryville, CA
- [Senior Research Associate - Technology Development](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-research-associate-technology-development-profluent-emeryville-hqzxycy3vt8b) — Emeryville, CA
- [Senior IT Operations Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-it-operations-engineer-profluent-emeryville-58byesg33whn) — Emeryville, CA
- [Scientist I/Scientist II, tLNP Formulation and Delivery](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-i-scientist-ii-tlnp-formulation-and-delivery-profluent-emeryville-1ybymn72weq1) — Emeryville, CA
- [Software Engineer, Machine Learning Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-machine-learning-platform-profluent-emeryville-hywmbz47mnac) — Emeryville, CA
- [Machine Learning Scientist, Pretraining](https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-scientist-pretraining-profluent-emeryville-rj16p67r3h9c) — Emeryville, CA
- [Executive Director / Vice President, Biology & Translational Pharmacology](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-director-vice-president-biology-translational-pharmacology-profluent-rr9mkm28evx8) — Emeryville, CA