---
title: 'Research Scientist at Chai Discovery'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-chai-discovery-san-francisco-x8yhz96d2xxn'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Research Scientist at Chai Discovery

- **Company:** Chai Discovery
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-03-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/chaidiscovery/19fcda8f-b68a-465a-a960-edc49c7ecdb9

## Job description

## ABOUT CHAI DISCOVERY

Chai builds the design suite for molecules. We train frontier models that learn the underlying foundations of biochemical structure and interaction, so scientists can move faster and pursue targets that other methods cannot reach.

AI is reinventing life sciences the same way it reinvented software engineering, and Chai is at the forefront of this shift. Leading pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly https://endpoints.news/eli-lilly-chai-discovery-sign-ai-software-deal/, Pfizer https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2026/06/04/why-pfizer-and-eli-lilly-are-betting-on-this-13-billion-ai-drug-discovery-startup/, and Novartis https://www.chaidiscovery.com/news/novartis-partnership are adopting our platform to power their drug discovery programs.

We value diverse perspectives and are ready to find greatness in unexpected places.

## ABOUT THE ROLE

We are hiring research scientists with outlier insight who can drive new avenues for the work we pursue. From pre-training large diffusion models and architecture design, to post-training and inference time scaling, we draw upon the best ideas from within our domain and across the field.

Our models have moved beyond protein structure prediction into real-world therapeutic engineering—and we have only just begun. Our team hails from physics, math, theoretical computer science, computational biology and related disciplines. Everyone is capable and self-sufficient, and everyone helps foster a highly collaborative and collegial environment.

Our view is that executing on a long-term research program requires bringing together the right people, with access to the best resources, aligned towards common objectives. And nothing is more essential to our mission and our business than the progress of our research.

## ABOUT YOU

We are looking for researchers driven by impact and foundational progress. We index on sustained focus, rigor and results—people who get obsessed with hard problems and don't give up easily. Folks with a nose for tackling the right questions at the right time, alongside an ample dose of grit and curiosity.

We value academic training, research track record, and proven industry accomplishments; we are also more than willing to make a bet on rising talent. We look for engineering capability as well as literature fluency.

## WE OFFER

The opportunity to work at the vanguard of AI research and frontier biology, with world-class people, on a mission that matters. We protect & promote a culture of high velocity and ownership. We compensate our team accordingly.

## About Chai Discovery

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Chai Discovery builds frontier AI models to predict and reprogram the interactions between biochemical molecules, focusing on de novo antibody design for drug discovery.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Joshua Meier, Jack Dent, Matthew McPartlon, Jacques Boitreaud

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI-powered drug discovery and biotechnology
- **Target customers**: B2B — Large pharmaceutical and biotech companies (e.g., Eli Lilly)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Transforming biology from a scientific practice into an engineering discipline" [chaidiscovery.com](https://www.chaidiscovery.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Chai-2**: A frontier AI model designed for de novo antibody design. It can design antibodies against challenging targets with atomic precision, moving past simple binding toward real therapeutic viability. The company describes it as a "computer-aided design suite" for molecules. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/), [chaidiscovery.com](https://www.chaidiscovery.com/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: $1.3 billion (as of December 2025 Series B) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $231.0M across 6 rounds. Key rounds include: Seed ($30M, led by OpenAI and Thrive Capital, 2024), Series A ($70M, 2025), and Series B ($130M, led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, Dec 2025). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: OpenAI, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Oak HC/FT, Amazon Web Services (non-equity assistance). Strategic partnership with **Eli Lilly** (announced Jan 2026) for drug development. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)
- **Growth Signals**: Named to Endpoints News "11 most promising biotech companies of 2025" [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery). Headcount grew **169.2% YoY** (approx. 27 employees) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery). LinkedIn followers grew **508.7% yearly** [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery). The Eli Lilly deal is a major validation of the technology by a top-tier pharma company.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Custom, homegrown AI architecture**: Every line of code is proprietary; they do not fine-tune off-the-shelf LLMs, giving them a unique technical moat. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)
- **Deep ties to OpenAI**: Founders built the company out of OpenAI's offices, with Sam Altman as an early supporter and OpenAI as a seed investor, providing significant credibility and talent access. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)
- **Founder expertise**: Co-founder Joshua Meier previously developed ESM1, the first transformer protein-language model, at Facebook (Meta) and worked at Generate:Biomedicines, giving the team deep domain expertise. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)
- **Early market traction**: Has already secured a partnership with Eli Lilly, a top-10 global pharma company, indicating strong commercial viability ahead of many competitors. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)

## Strategic Focus
- **Deploy AI in real-world drug discovery**: The company's immediate priority is to embed its models into the workflows of pharma partners like Eli Lilly to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics.
- **Unlock new classes of medicines**: By enabling atomic-precision design of antibodies, Chai aims to target historically "undruggable" biological pathways.
- **Scale the platform**: Continue to improve the Chai-2 model and expand its capabilities, with a goal of seeing first-in-class medicines enter clinical trials by the end of 2027. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Highly interdisciplinary, blending computer science, engineering, biology, chemistry, and physics. The company values deep technical talent and a "heads down" approach to pushing the frontier of AI. [chaidiscovery.com](https://www.chaidiscovery.com/careers)
- **Work policy**: In-person in **San Francisco, California** (HQ at 235 Pine St, Suite 1300). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery)
- **Notable perks/engineering culture**: Working at a well-funded, high-valuation startup with direct ties to OpenAI and a clear path to impact in a cutting-edge field. The team is small (~27 people) but growing fast, offering significant ownership and responsibility. Talent sources include Stripe, CERN, and Generate:Biomedicines, indicating a high-caliber peer group. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery)

## Sources
1. [Chai Discovery Website](https://www.chaidiscovery.com/)
2. [Chai Discovery Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/chaidiscovery)
3. [TechCrunch - How Chai Discovery became one of the flashiest names in AI drug development](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/16/from-openais-offices-to-a-deal-with-eli-lilly-how-chai-discovery-became-one-of-the-flashiest-names-in-ai-drug-development/)
4. [LinkedIn - Chai Discovery Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaidiscovery)

## Other roles at Chai Discovery

- [First Finance Hire](https://feeny.ai/job/first-finance-hire-chai-discovery-san-francisco-h4sy4s08eqwy) — San Francisco, CA
- [Scientist, Protein Design](https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-protein-design-chai-discovery-san-francisco-11g6bx8mhvx5) — San Francisco, CA
- [Internship](https://feeny.ai/job/internship-chai-discovery-san-francisco-web8x5z637y7) — San Francisco, CA
- [Security Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/security-lead-chai-discovery-san-francisco-ff3e5ja76ac2) — San Francisco, CA
- [Data Ops](https://feeny.ai/job/data-ops-chai-discovery-san-francisco-tt1g0j189zc0) — San Francisco, CA
- [Forward-Deployed Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-scientist-chai-discovery-san-francisco-gmjhzbwc2zg3) — San Francisco, CA
- [Engagement Management](https://feeny.ai/job/engagement-management-chai-discovery-san-francisco-acqdvmn9f6qy) — San Francisco, CA
- [Business Development](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-chai-discovery-san-francisco-5yy85rvtqh62) — San Francisco, CA
- [Antibody Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/antibody-engineering-chai-discovery-san-francisco-781hbfm2bd46) — San Francisco, CA
- [Talent](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-chai-discovery-san-francisco-pdhh1fnjkwwx) — San Francisco, CA