--- title: 'Director / Senior Director, Machine Learning for Biology at Altos Labs' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-senior-director-machine-learning-for-biology-altos-labs-san-diego-tav9vfz1h2qf' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Director / Senior Director, Machine Learning for Biology at Altos Labs - **Company:** Altos Labs - **Location:** San Diego, CA / San Francisco Bay Area, CA - **Posted:** 2026-08-20 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/altoslabs/jobs/6147881004 ## Job description ## Our Mission Our mission is to restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation to reverse disease, injury, and the disabilities that can occur throughout life. For more information, see our website at [altoslabs.com.](https://altoslabs.com/) Our Value Our Single Altos Value: Everyone Owns Achieving Our Inspiring Mission. Diversity at Altos Altos Labs has been named one of the Top 3 Biotech Companies and ranked for the second year on the Forbes 2026 Best Startups in America list.  At Altos, exceptional scientists and industry leaders from around the world work together to advance a shared mission. Our intentional focus is on Belonging, so that all employees know that they are valued for their unique perspectives. We are all accountable for sustaining a diverse and inclusive environment. ## What You Will Contribute To Altos Altos is asking questions biology has no method for yet; the Institute of Computing (IoC) builds the machine learning to answer them, and it is looking for a Director or Senior Director-level Scientist to lead that capability with a proven record of taking large-scale ML methods to real biological problems. Someone who is still deep enough in the work to be hands-on in the technical trenches and shape method choices, and senior enough to set strategic direction, at critical decision points, across the institute's most ambitious programs. ## Responsibilities - Partner with the rest of the IoC Leadership Team to co-define and steer Altos’ core technical agenda, strategically identifying and prioritizing the most critical biological questions where machine learning can drive breakthroughs in cell rejuvenation and resilience, ensuring ML investments are deployed against highest-impact scientific frontiers rather than pure technical advancement. - Build and maintain strong partnerships with key stakeholders and leaders across different functions / Altos. - Lead a team of ML Scientists and Engineers, while staying hands-on enough to provide direct technical guidance across IoC's highest-impact ML programs. - Provide technical and strategic guidance and advice on ML project design and de-risking across multiple teams, drawing on deep intuition for what drives success or failure in ML-for-biology projects, backed by established experience. - Provide sustained technical mentorship and strategic guidance, supporting the professional development and growth of the team while proactively growing IoC's ML bench through training, coaching, and active recruitment of outstanding talent. - Lead effectively in a matrixed environment, influencing technical direction on projects and teams outside your direct reporting line, and aligning priorities across IoC's ML programs even where you don't hold reporting authority. ## Who You Are - Deep knowledge and understanding with common and state of the art AI/ML methods and innovations and large-scale training procedures, applied to biological data modalities (e.g., single-cell, perturbation-response, spatial, or sequence data). - We are looking for a broad expertise and mastery across various AI/ML domains, specifically: reasoning and  open-ended learning framework design for scientific hypothesis generation and evaluation; large-scale pretraining, fine-tuning, and post-training of foundation models, including RL, distillations, finetuning, and strategies to reduce hallucination and align model objectives with scientific discovery; model architectures that span multimodal generative and predictive modeling (normalizing flows, diffusion models, LLMs) for out-of-distribution generalization in biological systems; and hybrid modeling approaches  — model identifiability, robustness, and regularized/interpretable methods such as anchor or energy-based models — for biological tasks, including target identification; semantic-based dynamic inference, virtual cell and world model paradigms. - A strong track record of leading innovative biological ML projects to success, while foreseeing and mitigating ML project failure modes at scale. - Ability to think strategically, and can optimize for the long term while acting and delivering with pace. - Ability to contribute to a culture of continuous learning and technical innovation, ensuring a rigorous balance between creative exploration and strategic resource allocation and priorities. - Stay current with scientific and data science advancements, integrating relevant knowledge into computational biology. - Intellectually curious with a strong pulse on the computational Landscape, and ability to decipher and prioritize AI trends from hype to maintain a competitive edge. ## Minimum Qualifications Education: PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related quantitative field. The level will be based on relevant experience and track record of technical and people leadership gained within a biotech or AI driven life sciences environment. Typically: - Director: PhD + 10+ years experience with a proven track record, with a minimum of  4–5 years of experience, in people management. - Senior Director: PhD +14+ years experience, with 7–8+ years of people/team leadership, and a demonstrable broad background driving multiple programs through multi disciplinary teams. The hiring range for Redwood City, CA: - Director: $297,400 - $381,300 - Senior Director $366,800- $470,200 The hiring range for San Diego, CA: - Director: $273,900- $351,100 - Senior Director $337,700- $432,900 Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location. For UK applicants, before submitting your application: - Please click here to read the Altos Labs EU and UK Applicant Privacy Notice ([bit.ly/eu_uk_privacy_notice](https://bit.ly/eu_uk_privacy_notice)) - This Privacy Notice is not a contract, express or implied and it does not set terms or conditions of employment. ## Equal Opportunity Employment We value collaboration and scientific excellence. We believe that a culture of belonging are foundational to scientific innovation and inquiry. At Altos Labs, exceptional scientists and industry leaders from around the world work together to advance a shared mission. Our intentional focus is on Belonging, so that all employees know that they are valued for their unique perspectives. We are all accountable for sustaining an inclusive environment. Altos Labs provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Altos prohibits unlawful discrimination and harassment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. Thank you for your interest in Altos Labs where we strive for a culture of scientific excellence, learning, and belonging. Note: Altos Labs will not ask you to download a messaging app for an interview or outlay your own money to get started as an employee. If this sounds like your interaction with people claiming to be with Altos, it is not legitimate and has nothing to do with Altos. Learn more about a common job scam at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-spot-avoid-online-job-scams-biron-clark/ ## About Altos Labs ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Altos Labs is a biotechnology company pioneering cellular rejuvenation programming to reverse disease, injury, and disabilities by restoring cell health and resilience. - **Entity Type**: Private (believed to be well-funded by high-profile investors including Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner; no public funding rounds listed) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA (also major sites in San Diego, CA and Cambridge, UK) - **Founded**: 2021 (publicly launched in January 2022) - **Founders**: Hal Barron (CEO), Hans Bishop (President), Rick Klausner (Chief Scientific Advisor) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Biotechnology / Longevity & Cell Rejuvenation / Drug Discovery - **Target customers**: B2B/Institutional (partners, academic collaborators); ultimate end-users are patients with age-related diseases - **Mission statement**: “To restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation to reverse disease, injury and the disabilities that can occur throughout life.” ## Products & Services Currently in the research and preclinical/early clinical stage. No marketed products yet. Major initiatives include: - **[Cell Rejuvenation Programming Platform]**: Proprietary technology based on partial cellular reprogramming (building on Yamanaka factors and Belmonte lab discoveries) to reset epigenetic age and restore cell function. - **[Institute of Computation]**: Developing multi-scale generative AI models to decode the “language of cell health” and accelerate discovery of rejuvenation-based therapies. - **[Institute of Medicine]**: Translational arm focused on converting fundamental biology into potential breakthrough medicines for age-related diseases. - **[Discovery Engine]**: Integrated platform combining experimental biology, high-quality internal data generation, and computational modeling to identify novel targets and therapies. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed; widely reported to have raised over **$3 billion** in initial financing (one of the largest biotech startup financings ever). Investors include Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner, and others. - **Key Metric**: **$3+ billion total funding** (reported launch round) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Jeff Bezos (via Bezos Expeditions), Yuri Milner (via DST Global), and other undisclosed high-net-worth individuals; partnerships with leading academic institutions including the Salk Institute and Cambridge University. - **Growth Signals**: Rapidly scaling headcount (26 open roles listed on Greenhouse as of mid-2026); expansion of computational and AI teams; launched Institute of Computation; appointed Joan Mannick (M.D.) as Chief Medical Officer in 2025 to lead early clinical development. ## Competitive Advantages - **Massive capital base**: Over $3 billion in funding provides long runway for high-risk, long-horizon science. - **World-class scientific leadership**: CEO Hal Barron (ex-GSK, ex-Roche), President Hans Bishop (ex-Juno Therapeutics), Chief Scientific Advisor Rick Klausner, and founding scientist Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte (pioneer of partial reprogramming). - **“Academic freedom meets industry focus” model**: Combines the freedom of academic inquiry with the discipline and resources of a biotech company. - **AI-first approach**: Dedicated Institute of Computation with a focus on generative AI and foundational models for biology, differentiating from traditional drug discovery. - **Multi-site global footprint**: Operations spanning US (Bay Area, San Diego) and UK (Cambridge) attract top talent from both sides of the Atlantic. ## Strategic Focus - **Near-term**: Advancing first therapeutic programs into clinical trials; building out the Institute of Computation and AI models; scaling drug discovery and development capabilities. - **Long-term**: Transform medicine by developing therapies that address the root cause of disease—cellular aging—rather than just symptoms. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven culture**: Focus on a single, ambitious goal—reversing disease through cell rejuvenation—unites the organization. - **Unique work model**: Blends academic freedom (pursue deep questions, publish, collaborate openly) with industry urgency (focus on medicines, milestones, patient impact). - **Computational focus**: Heavy investment in AI/ML (machine learning scientists, AI engineers, computational biology) makes it appealing for those interested in the intersection of tech and biology. - **Work environment**: Collaborative, interdisciplinary, and global; values diverse perspectives. Described as “a unique and inspiring place to work” with “many ways to contribute to our mission.” - **Currently hiring across multiple disciplines**: Discovery Science, Drug Development, Computation, Technology, and Operations—with roles in San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Cambridge, UK. - **Perks/culture highlights**: Not explicitly detailed on careers page, but the emphasis on “freedom to collaborate broadly” and “big questions” suggests a high-autonomy, high-trust environment. ### Company Website & Careers 1. [altoslabs.com](https://www.altoslabs.com/) – Official company site (overview, science, about, careers) 2. [altoslabs.com/careers](https://www.altoslabs.com/careers) – Careers page (mission, culture, job listings) 3. [altoslabs.com/about](https://www.altoslabs.com/about) – About page (leadership, institutes, model) 4. [altoslabs.com/science](https://www.altoslabs.com/science) – Science page (founding science, partial reprogramming) ### Job Board 5. [job-boards.greenhouse.io/altoslabs](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/altoslabs) – Greenhouse job board (26 open positions as of mid-2026) ## Other roles at Altos Labs - [Scientist / Senior Scientist, Structural Cell Biology](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-senior-scientist-structural-cell-biology-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-2as6grjx00j9) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Neuroscience Research Associate / Research Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/neuroscience-research-associate-research-specialist-altos-labs-san-francisco-r0jg5an2qvkn) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Scientist, Neurodegeneration](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-neurodegeneration-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-area-ptan9vfe9dfh) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Senior Research Associate, Drug Discovery](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-research-associate-drug-discovery-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-area-es0k39mddn6n) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Scientist I, Disease Biology](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-i-disease-biology-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-area-et5derm8tk55) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Research Specialist / Scientist, Assay Development](https://feeny.ai/job/research-specialist-scientist-assay-development-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-mh03x0h22xn9) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Research Specialist / Scientist, Metabolic Phenotyping (In Vitro & In Vivo)](https://feeny.ai/job/research-specialist-scientist-metabolic-phenotyping-in-vitro-in-vivo-altos-labs-5t2sm6dhx8vq) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Scientist, In Vivo Biology](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-in-vivo-biology-altos-labs-san-diego-knkjj1wwr991) — San Diego, CA - [Business and Laboratory Operations Manager, Drug Discovery & Development Sciences](https://feeny.ai/job/business-and-laboratory-operations-manager-drug-discovery-development-sciences-ndphgkvmg07w) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA - [Senior Counsel II / Corporate Counsel, Transactions](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-counsel-ii-corporate-counsel-transactions-altos-labs-san-francisco-bay-z6yn7t54afpe) — San Francisco Bay Area, CA