--- title: 'ML Research Scientist (MLRS) - Generative AI at Achira' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/ml-research-scientist-mlrs-generative-ai-achira-san-francisco-6ye40kf8h9a1' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-12' --- # ML Research Scientist (MLRS) - Generative AI at Achira - **Company:** Achira - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-06-30 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/achira/083f473d-0204-4822-a62b-ea2dcfab50d4 ## Job description ## Why Achira At Achira, we are building a team of world-class scientists, ML researchers, and engineers to move beyond the beaten path and build a frontier lab for Physical AI for molecules. We are actively exploring the next frontier of model architectures for AI x Chemistry: developing world models for the physical microcosm. Our goal is to make biology at the molecular level something that can be learned, predicted, and designed. At Achira, you’ll operate at the frontier scale of massive compute, massive data, and massive ambition. You’ll own impactful work end-to-end, from ideation to architecture to deployment on distributed infrastructure. We are a well-funded, talent-dense organization that values rigor, speed, execution, and an ownership mindset. We’re looking for new members who share our sense of relentless urgency and are natural collaborators who value team success. ## About the Role We’re looking for machine learning researchers who want to shape the frontier of generative models for the atomistic microcosm. You will work at the intersection of cutting-edge machine learning, statistical mechanics, and approximate bayesian inference to help us conquer sampling and generation problems at light-speed. In addition, you’ll collaborate with experts in chemistry and physics to invent and implement models and applications to unlock what’s possible for Achira’s microscopic world models. While we prefer candidates willing to work from our San Francisco office, highly skilled candidates may be considered for working from New York City with travel to San Francisco as needed. Both locations are offered as hybrid roles, spending at least some of your time working from the office in collaboration with coworkers. Travel is part of all roles at Achira, both to conferences and corporate on-site activities. ## What You’ll Do - Invent advanced sampling and simulation methods that integrate probabilistic inference, deep learning, and reinforcement learning to enable efficient exploration and simulation of learned energy landscapes for molecular systems. - Design and train frontier generative models: diffusion, autoregressive, flow-based, and latent-variable architectures. - Build models that can map between data distributions to bridge the gap between simulation and reality. - Prototype, benchmark, and iterate rapidly to transform research ideas into reusable and scalable components across Achira’s ecosystem. - Collaborate with physicists and chemists to ensure models are grounded in real physics. - Work with research engineers and the infrastructure team to identify where research ideas will need support in order to deliver effective results. ## About You - Interested in building generative models that describe real matter. - Drive to build at the frontier of what’s possible and try out new, high-risk ideas. - Machine learning researcher with professional experience (post-degree) in an industry setting. - Demonstrated research impact through conference talks or publications (in machine learning venues), open-source contributions, or released models. - Strong interdisciplinary communication and presentation skills and the ability to translate ideas and concepts to colleagues from non-ML backgrounds. - Proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks (PyTorch, JAX). - Experience collaborating on research projects across multi-person teams. - Desire and comfort with working on frontier problems in physical AI to invent the blueprint for how they will be tackled. ## Nice to Have Achira values excellent ML researchers from many backgrounds, and expect members of the team to contribute complementary strengths. If the work excites you, we encourage you to apply, even if you hit none of the bonus features listed below! - Experience working with models that operate on 3-D point clouds and dynamic data. - Experience in sequential monte carlo methods. - Experience with probabilistic programming. - Experience with pre-training, mid-training, and post-training (especially reinforcement learning) parts of the model development process. - Familiarity with statistical mechanics: working knowledge of sampling, estimators, and the Crooks/Jarzynski perspective of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. - Prior experience working in or with researchers in the domains of computational chemistry, biology, or materials science. - Experience working with multi-cloud distributed compute systems. - Experience working with multi-site distributed company team. ## About Achira ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Achira builds atomistic foundation simulation models that blend geometric deep learning, generative AI, physics, and quantum chemistry to power the next generation of drug discovery and materials design. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed Stage) - **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: John Chodera (CEO/President), Theofanis Karaletsos, Zavain Dar (Board) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Biotechnology Research / AI-driven Drug Discovery - **Target customers**: Pharmaceutical and biotech R&D teams (B2B); drug discovery scientists seeking advanced computational tools - **Mission or purpose statement**: To create a fundamentally new way of modeling and simulating the world at the atomistic scale, turning intractable extrapolation problems into tractable interpolation problems by learning the underlying physical laws that govern matter. ## Products & Services - **Molecular World Models**: A new class of foundation simulation models that blend geometric deep learning, generative AI, physics, quantum chemistry, and statistical mechanics. These models are designed to deliver unprecedented performance across biomolecular applications, transforming drug discovery and materials design into true inverse design problems. - **Agentic Discovery Platform (in partnership with NVIDIA)**: Announced at BIO2026 (June 2026), this platform advances molecular world models for agentic discovery, leveraging NVIDIA's computing infrastructure. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company) - **Key Metric**: **$33M in total funding** (Seed round, March 2025) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Dimension, Amplify, NVIDIA, Compound - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount of 17 employees (+54.5% YoY, +6 people) - 82% of staff in technical roles (machine learners, quantum chemists, engineers) - High-profile hires from D. E. Shaw Research, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and other top computational science teams - Partnership with NVIDIA announced at BIO2026 ## Competitive Advantages - **Third-path approach**: Unlike pure ML methods (which are data-hungry) or traditional molecular dynamics (which is computationally limited), Achira's models learn the underlying physical laws, making them exceptionally data-efficient for out-of-distribution prediction. - **World-class team**: Founders and technical staff with deep expertise in quantum chemistry, machine learning, and drug discovery, drawn from top institutions. - **NVIDIA partnership**: Direct access to cutting-edge computing infrastructure and co-development resources. - **Foundational technology**: Their approach is positioned as a platform technology applicable across drug discovery and materials science, not just a single-product solution. ## Strategic Focus - **Current priorities**: Building and scaling molecular world models; advancing agentic discovery capabilities; expanding the team of machine learners and software engineers; partnering with drug discovery scientists to validate and deploy models in real-world scenarios. - **Direction for growth**: To become the foundational computational layer for programming matter, enabling inverse design across biomolecular and materials applications. ## Why Work Here - **Culture highlights**: A team of "machine learners, quantum chemists, engineers, computer scientists, and entrepreneurs" united by an "uncompromising drive to build the foundational technological substrate for programming matter." Emphasis on intellectual ambition and scientific rigor. - **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Presence in New York, NY (HQ) and Italy. Specific policy not stated, but the team is currently 94% US-based. - **Notable perks or engineering culture**: Opportunity to work on the frontier of AI + physical sciences; high concentration of technical talent (82% of staff); direct collaboration with NVIDIA; chance to shape a foundational technology from an early stage. The company actively seeks "machine learners and software engineers" and encourages applicants even if no perfect role is listed. ## Sources 1. [achira.ai](https://achira.ai/) 2. [achira.ai/about](https://achira.ai/about/) 3. [achira.ai/careers](https://achira.ai/careers/) 4. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/achira-ai) 5. [datanyze.com](https://www.datanyze.com/companies/achira/5000059998) ## Other roles at Achira - [People Operations Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-manager-achira-san-francisco-2ww83xn8nzc3) — San Francisco, CA - [ML Research Scientist (MLRS) - Representation Learning for Molecular AI](https://feeny.ai/job/ml-research-scientist-mlrs-representation-learning-for-molecular-ai-achira-san-g4avp0c6b7k4) — San Francisco, CA - [CADD / Application Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/cadd-application-scientist-achira-new-york-7sw69t5gkw6h) — New York, NY - [Machine Learning Research Engineer (MLRE) - GPUs](https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-research-engineer-mlre-gpus-achira-san-francisco-j6mm7fjed50y) — San Francisco, CA - [Machine Learning Research Engineer (MLRE) - Workflows/Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-research-engineer-mlre-workflows-systems-achira-san-francisco-0vf8drtv0h8m) — San Francisco, CA - [Machine Learning Research Engineer (MLRE) - Research](https://feeny.ai/job/machine-learning-research-engineer-mlre-research-achira-san-francisco-nh4m4asmxj8h) — San Francisco, CA - [SWE - Distributed](https://feeny.ai/job/swe-distributed-achira-san-francisco-d8wh3r550t76) — San Francisco, CA