(Senior) Computational Biologist

Job Description - Pioneer Labs - (Senior) Computational Biologist

About Pioneer Labs

Pioneer labs is engineering the first microbes that will be used on Mars. We are building an engineering platform that allows us to cultivate hearty critters that can grow robustly even in extreme conditions. We aim for this research to make biomanufacturing ubiquitous, reliable, and green - on Earth and beyond.

To do so, Pioneer is building a platform for polyextremophile microbial engineering . Our approach combines functional genomics and robotics accelerated evolution to rapidly engineer microbes that are tailored to suit harsh, unusual conditions found in biomanufacturing.

We are a nonprofit startup based in Emeryville, California . We do marsshot science with an agile, startup-like team. Pioneer is supported by the Astera Institute's Residency Program, and is a pilot project of Align to Innovate. See https : / / www.pioneer-labs.org / for more information.

Computational Biology

The Opportunity

Pioneer is seeking a (Senior) Computational Biologist to join our team in early Summer 2025. Our scientific mission relies on generating functional genomics data at scale, and you will contribute to driving analysis and interpretation of experimental data. In addition, you will apply computational tools to inform experimental design as well as leverage external datasets for insight generation.

While this is a purely computational position, we are especially interested in candidates with prior wet lab experience and a generalist quantitative mindset.

You will report to the Head of Data as one of the key early members of a growing computational team. This is an in-person role at our office in Emeryville. Job title and compensation will be based on experience.

Key responsibilities

Examples of responsibilities include :

• Support existing functional genomics analysis : Collaborate with the scientific team to design and analyze high-throughput functional genomics experiments, providing bioinformatics and statistical expertise to interpret data and guide experimental design.
• Develop new analysis methods : Adopt and expand new methodologies for analyzing data from various modalities, giving expert advice on developing new experimental assays as needed.
• Automate and streamline workflows : Create and implement automated workflows for processing and analyzing experimental data.
• Drive insight generation with computational projects : Through techniques like mathematical modeling and machine learning, conduct in silico experiments to discover new scientific insights from our data and inform future wet lab experiments.
• Leadership, mentorship, and collaboration : Mentor junior research associates, lead meetings and strategy planning, and collaborate with cross-functional teams within and outside of Pioneer Labs.

About You

Note that this section describes an ideal candidate in order to provide insight into what this job could entail. The more of these that apply to you, the more likely we think you will be a good fit for the role. Please don't hesitate to apply even if you don't feel like you're a perfect match!

Essential

Technical :

Interpersonal :

Desirable

Nice-to-have qualifications, experience and competencies :

Salary and benefits

The candidate's starting pay and job title will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and interview performance. Pioneer Labs takes a market-based approach to compensation. We benchmark salaries based on equivalents in for-profit biotech startups.

Anticipated salary range : $140,000 - $185,000

We offer benefits including :

Pioneer Labs welcomes everyone

We believe diversity enriches our team and so strive to hire people with a wide range of identities, backgrounds, and experiences.

We are an equal opportunity employer. That means we don't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Salary : $140,000 - $185,000