---
title: 'Strategy at Chai Discovery'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/strategy-chai-discovery-san-francisco-zstsq84tkjpr'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-19'
---

# Strategy at Chai Discovery

- **Company:** Chai Discovery
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-09-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/chaidiscovery/8c45d5b1-d0fa-4611-9cff-1ed5e6f9cba4

## Job description

## About Chai Discovery

Chai Discovery builds the computer-aided design suite for molecules. [Eli Lilly](https://endpoints.news/eli-lilly-chai-discovery-sign-ai-software-deal/), [GSK](https://endpoints.news/chai-discovery-signs-gsk-deal-to-make-biologics-with-ai/), [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/), [Bristol Meyers](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7496300911523246080/), [argenx](https://x.com/chaidiscovery/status/2077422480617267230?s=20) and [Novartis](https://www.chaidiscovery.com/news/novartis-partnership) all use Chai to power drug discovery programs. AI is reinventing life sciences the same way it reinvented software engineering, and our team is building that future. We train frontier models that learn the underlying foundations of biochemical structure and interaction. We pair this with a computational workspace to iterate on molecules from idea to medicine, helping scientists move faster and develop medicines beyond the reach of existing methods. We value diverse perspectives and are ready to find greatness in unexpected places.

## About the role

We are building a strategy team to take on the hardest open questions about our business and turn them into decisions we act on. Chai's business model has no real precedent. We sell a new kind of technology into a very large market, in an era where few people can say with confidence where things are headed. The questions are hard and the answers consequential: how we price, which segments and products we expand into, and what makes our position durable. You'll need to be ready to embed with teams on problems ranging from scaling lab capacity and buy versus build compute to winning the war for talent. The work runs from framing to implementation. You'll scope a problem, run primary research with customers and outside experts, build the quantitative case, reach a conclusion, and see it through. A project isn't done when the memo is written. It's done when the decision is made and in place.

## About you

You are a structured, quantitative thinker with good instincts. You produce conclusions, not just inputs. You know how to influence, pushing decisions across teams until they land. You are comfortable making justified assumptions with incomplete information, and disciplined about revisiting them. You know which threads to pull on an expert call. You have a nose for connecting dots, extracting signal, and folding new data points into the larger picture. You likely trained in management consulting, venture or growth investing, or quantitative research, and may have moved into strategy or special projects at a high-growth technology company. Data science or CS experience is a plus. Biotech or pharma experience isn't required—range across industries and situations is valuable, as is the ability to learn a technical domain quickly.

## 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)

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