---
title: 'Scientific Writer, Life Science (Radial) at Astera Institute'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/scientific-writer-life-science-radial-astera-institute-emeryville-fs8456g7v3fx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-15'
---

# Scientific Writer, Life Science (Radial) at Astera Institute

- **Company:** Astera Institute
- **Location:** Emeryville, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera/86898e53-39d2-444a-a869-9a3b1b455b61

## Job description

About Astera: Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward an abundant future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to dramatically accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive scientific progress. Unlike traditional non-profit research organizations, projects supported by Astera operate like high-velocity startups, allowing us to focus on ambitious goals, match structure to problem, and attract strong technical talent and leadership. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming [here](https://astera.org/vision/).

## About Radial

Radial is a research organization within Astera focused on rethinking life science research at a systems level. The systems that enable how we fund, do, and build upon science have long needed an update. At Radial, we design, fund, and operate programs that tackle foundational scientific problems while simultaneously testing better ways to do science. We're looking for people who are willing to take big risks, build useful things and share their learnings in the open.

Position Summary Radial is seeking a Scientific Writer to shape and sharpen the scientific content our teams publish — editing research outputs for argument and clarity, drafting blog posts from interviews and raw results, and helping our scientists release work in formats better suited to it than a static PDF. This position reports to the CEO of Radial. You have a real appetite for creative scholarly communication (e.g. interactive figures, video, executable models) and you're motivated by what happens after publication: work that others can reuse, build on, and openly critique. You'll draft and edit, direct figure and design work, and train researchers at Radial on what good scholarly communications looks like. You'll support Radial’s programs, like Deliverome, OpenADMET, Prism, and the Radial Residency, with audiences ranging from structural biologists and biochemists to gene delivery researchers and prospective residents.

This is a full-time position.

Responsibilities: Scientific Writing

- Edit research outputs and scientific publications — both content editing (argument, structure, framing, what the reader needs to know) and copy editing
- Draft and edit blog posts from interviews with scientists, internal documents, and raw results

Publication and release

- Ensure every release meets Astera's Open Science policy — persistent identifiers, open licenses, data in FAIR repositories, runnable code — and maintain the pipeline of upcoming pubs
- Advise on publication strategy and ideal unit of release: help scientists find the smallest independently useful thing they could publish now

Creative and visual communication

- Work with scientists to identify findings that are poorly served by conventional formats, and propose alternatives: interactive figures, web-hosted visualizations, executable code, etc.
- Direct external designers and developers on figures, interactive builds, and demos: write the brief, judge the result, manage the revision loop
- Build templates and tools that make those formats a cheap default rather than a one-off effort
- Refine slide decks for talks, funder meetings, and internal reviews

Documentation support

- Help researchers document the computational methods and algorithms our programs produce: what the method does, what it assumes, what its parameters mean, how it fails, and how a user can tell whether it worked
- Partner with Data Steward on documentation and dataset standards for open-source releases

## Qualifications and Experience

- PhD in a life science field plus at least 2 years of work experience in scientific writing and editing; or 5+ years of equivalent industry experience.
- Technical depth: you can read a method section or a codebase in an unfamiliar area, work out what the algorithm actually does, and ask the author the question that exposes the undocumented assumption.
- Demonstrated technical writing — documentation, tutorials, or method write-ups you can point to, ideally public
- Demonstrated editing range: you can improve someone else's argument and structure, then copy edit the result, without flattening their voice
- Comfort with Git/GitHub, Markdown, notebooks, and at least one documentation toolchain (Sphinx, MkDocs, Quarto, Jupyter Book, or similar)
- Judgment about audience: you can tell the difference between documentation for a method's likely users, a post for a general scientific reader, and a proposal for a funder, and you write differently for each
- Experience publishing research outputs in formats other than the static PDF — interactive figures, executable notebooks, navigable datasets, or web-native pubs
- Ability to work across several programs in different technical domains
- Preferred:
- experience building interactive scientific content (e.g. D3, Observable, Plotly, Quarto, or similar)
- experience maintaining or contributing to open-source scientific software
- familiarity with any of our domains — structural biology, drug discovery and ADMET, gene and drug delivery, or scientific infrastructure

Location This position is on site at our office in Emeryville, CA. Some travel may be required from time-to-time for in-person collaboration and work.

## Compensation

Range: $120-180K The posted salary range is based on location in the Bay Area. The successful candidate will receive a competitive compensation package, commensurate with their experience and location.

- [Benefits Summary](https://app.notion.com/p/Benefits-Summary-Permanent-Staff-224445d3aea54599a8cad2ef46640b21?source=copy_link)

Cultural Alignment

- Surprising problem-solver – you love finding unexpected solutions to problems we don't even know we have, and see options where others only see constraints.
- Flexible by default – you don't draw hard lines around your job description and expect your role to evolve significantly over 6–12 months.
- Bias to action – you launch and iterate on thoughtful experiments rather than waiting for perfect plans, and you're energized by novel problems.
- High standards, internally driven – you believe you can build the world's best vehicle for unleashing extraordinary individuals to create public goods, and you hold yourself to that bar without benchmarking against others.
- Open to feedback – You create opportunities to give and receive honest feedback, staying focused on both personal and team growth, and committing to transparency even when it’s uncomfortable.
- Operate with the highest levels of integrity, judgment, and stewardship -- you treat residents, peers, and vendors with genuine respect for their time and contributions.
- Embrace the tools that define great work today – Astera is building for an AI-driven future and equips the team accordingly. We see these as genuine force multipliers, not optional extras, and we expect our people to use them.

## About Astera Institute

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astera Institute is a nonprofit organization that funds and conducts high-impact scientific research and engineering projects focused on neuroscience, artificial general intelligence (AGI), and open science to accelerate positive futures for humanity.
- **Entity Type**: Private nonprofit (501(c)(3) private foundation)
- **Headquarters**: Berkeley, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Jed McCaleb (also co-founder of Stellar Development Foundation and founder of Vast)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Research services, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, life sciences, grantmaking
- **Target customers**: Not applicable (nonprofit; serves the research community and the public through open science and foundational advances)
- **Mission / purpose**: Empower visionary, high-leverage science and technology projects with the capacity to create transformative progress for human civilization. Focus on areas like AGI, science, and climate that lack natural homes in the existing innovation ecosystem.

## Products & Services
Astera operates three main divisions (not commercial products):
- **Neuro & AGI**: Directed neuroscience and AI research effort to understand biological intelligence and engineer safe, successful general intelligence systems. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- **Radial**: Life sciences research division that funds and runs high-impact fundamental scientific challenges, testing new models for how science is conducted. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- **Foundation**: Centralized operational, financial support, and ecosystem-building for Neuro-AI, Science, and Strategic Investments. Also leads Residency and Fellowship programs. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not applicable (nonprofit)
- **Key Metrics**: 
  - **Total assets** (2023): $2,003,858,714 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Total expenses** (2023): $27,504,754 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Investment income and dividends** (2023): $58,598,494 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Headcount**: 55 employees (+63.4% YoY) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Funded primarily by founder Jed McCaleb (grants contributed $131M in 2022). Key leaders include Prachee Avasthi (Head of Open Science), Doris Tsao (Chief Scientist – Neuro), Seemay Chou (CEO – Radial), and Dileep George (Co-Founder, Neuro & AGI). [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 63.4% employee growth year-over-year (55 people) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - 23 active job postings (up 1050% YoY) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - LinkedIn followers grew 128.9% yearly [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - Presence in Netherlands and United Kingdom [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique model**: Nonprofit foundation that internally incubates and directly funds high-risk, high-leverage research across neuroscience, AI, and life sciences — without the pressure of commercial returns.
- **Top-tier leadership**: Led by accomplished scientists (e.g., Doris Tsao, Dileep George) and experienced operators from organizations like Stellar, Google, and Arcadia Science. [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/)
- **Open science focus**: Strong commitment to open access research and new models for scientific collaboration, attracting talent who value transparency and impact.
- **Substantial capital base**: Over $2B in assets provides long-term runway for ambitious, multi-year projects.

## Strategic Focus
- Deepen understanding of biological intelligence through large-scale neural circuit analysis and causal manipulation (Neuro & AGI). [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- Continue incubation of radical science projects via Radial, particularly in aging, biotech, and platforms. [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
- Expand the Residency and Fellowship programs to attract diverse scientific and engineering talent. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- Scale operations and hiring: current job postings span roles from vivarium operations manager to research scientists in energy-based models and distributed simulation systems. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera)

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: Directly contribute to foundational research that could reshape humanity’s future with AGI and novel science.
- **Benefits**: Full-time W2 employees receive top-tier medical/dental/vision insurance, 403(b) retirement plans, long-term disability plan, health/dependent-care FSAs, and commuter pre-tax accounts. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/)
- **Culture**: Described as an equal opportunity employer committed to equity and inclusion, encouraging diverse applicants. Emphasis on open science, experimentation, and high-leverage impact. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/)
- **Work setup**: Headquarters in Berkeley, CA; also has staff in the Netherlands and UK. Specific remote/hybrid policy not disclosed but multiple job postings suggest flexible arrangements.
- **Team composition**: Highly technical and research-oriented (21 researchers, 10 technical staff, 6 medical). Staff previously from Google, Stanford, UCSF, Arcadia Science, Relay Therapeutics. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
- **Rapid growth**: 63% YoY headcount increase and 1050% growth in job postings signal an expanding organization with ample career opportunities.

## Sources
1. [astera.org](https://astera.org/) – Homepage and division descriptions
2. [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/) – Leadership team details
3. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/) – Benefits and culture
4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute) – Company page with headcount, growth, job postings, and talent sources
5. [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/) – Financials (990-PF: revenues, expenses, assets, program areas)
6. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera) – Active open positions list

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