--- title: 'Scientist II, Screening at Profluent' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/scientist-ii-screening-profluent-emeryville-w8cwf0b9p33k' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-18' --- # Scientist II, Screening at Profluent - **Company:** Profluent - **Location:** Emeryville, CA - **Compensation:** $144k–$160k - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-16 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/profluent/jobs/5455776008 ## 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 seeking a motivated, rigorous, and collaborative scientist to establish and lead a centralized gene editor screening function. High-quality experimental data is a core input to our protein design models, and this role will own the screening operations that produce it. This role centers on building and running a screening core responsible for assay standardization, data quality, and team development. At first, you will support campaigns that generate training and evaluation data for our protein design models, and the scope may grow to cover more programs. You will design, run, and troubleshoot mammalian genome editing assays with NGS readouts in arrayed and pooled formats. You will set the technical standards that make our data reproducible and trustworthy. You will also build and mentor a team of Research Associates, and coordinate closely with Automation, Bioinformatics, Data Science, and Biology to keep the screening pipeline running smoothly from start to finish. As a leader of the team, you will balance hands-on scientific execution with people management and process development. You will identify, prioritize, and drive infrastructure projects that improve throughput, consistency, and assay sensitivity. You will also work with leadership to shape the long-term scope of the core. We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds who share our commitment to revolutionizing biology, driving meaningful innovation, and making a lasting impact on global healthcare. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of AI-driven protein design while collaborating with a dynamic, interdisciplinary team of experts in machine learning, protein engineering, cell biology, and gene editing. ## Responsibilities ## Team Leadership - Build and lead a team of 2–4 Research Associates, including hiring, training, performance management, and career development - Train and mentor staff on aseptic technique, assay execution, and documentation standards - Foster a supportive team culture that prioritizes growth, engagement, and well-being Execution - Prioritize, schedule, and resource cross-functional experiments in coordination with Automation and Bioinformatics - Design, execute, troubleshoot, and analyze mammalian genome editing assays with NGS readouts in arrayed and pooled formats - Onboard new assays and extend existing assays to new enzyme classes - Maintain sample chain of custody from plate mapping through automation, sample preparation, and sequencing submission, partnering with Bioinformatics on data schema and capture - Communicate technical results clearly to both expert and non-expert audiences - Deliver QC'd, analysis-ready datasets with documented QC flags to ML Process Development - Define and enforce technical standards, and write and maintain SOPs - Qualify new assays and define acceptance criteria based on reproducibility data - Maintain cell line quality and inventory for screening assays, in coordination with teams that manage cell banks - Characterize assay sensitivity, including the minimum detectable difference in activity at standard replicate counts - Identify, prioritize, and plan infrastructure projects that continually improve assays and processes - Coordinate process development across Automation, Bioinformatics, Data Science, and Biology - Evaluate the costs and benefits of centralizing high-throughput workflows in partnership with other teams - Work with leadership to assess and refine the scope of core functions ## Qualifications - PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, or a related field and 2+ years of relevant industry experience, or MS in a related field and 10+ years of relevant industry experience - Hands-on experience with bacterial and mammalian cell culture, genome editing, and NGS-based assays - Experience with high-throughput experimentation and analysis of large datasets - Experience with LIMS or ELN systems for sample and experiment tracking - Demonstrated ability to establish technical standards and drive consistent execution across operators Preferences - Experience working in or building a core facility or centralized service function - Track record of building or improving high-throughput processes - Experience leading infrastructure or process improvement projects - Experience with liquid handling automation and tech transfer - Experience with cell bank and inventory management - Strong foundation in experimental design and statistics, including power analysis and design of experiments (DOE) Hiring Salary Range $144,000—$160,000 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 - [Associate Scientist/Scientist I, Molecular Function](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-scientist-scientist-i-molecular-function-profluent-emeryville-rnr5zg7jejfc) — 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