Principal Scientist (Comp. Bio/ML) - Genomics
At a glance
Senior AI Research role at Helical. London · full-time · no salary stated · we estimate £78,230–£127,625 across the United Kingdom.
Helical has not published a salary for this role. The figure below is our estimate, not theirs.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Steer scientific choices about model testing and applied use in drug development and translational research
- Work with research colleagues to turn biology and ML into deliverables for customers
- Coordinate with Product and Business Development on customer-focused scientific work
- Mentor junior colleagues and provide scientific support as the team grows
What you bring
- A relevant PhD focused on genomics and ML plus two industry years, or a relevant MSc and five industry years applying ML to genomics
- Know ML and AI approaches for biological data, such as transformers, VAEs, diffusion models or classical ML
- Have practical experience with PyTorch or a comparable modern ML framework
- Have led small teams working toward agreed projects or roadmaps
Who this fits
This is a senior individual-contributor role for someone who can provide scientific leadership and strategy while mentoring colleagues. You’ll work on-site in London.
From the employer
We’re looking for a Principal Computational Scientist/Director to help translate our foundation models into impactful, real-world discovery workflows. In this role, you’ll provide scientific leadership across model evaluation and applied use cases, ensuring our work stays grounded in the most relevant challenges in drug development and translational research.
You’ll join as a senior individual contributor with leadership and strategy experience at a point where the the team scales. You will act as a key scientific partner to our research team, mentor and support junior colleagues, and work closely with Product and Business Development to turn cutting-edge biology + ML into deliverables that matter for customers.
Requirements
- PhD in Computational Biology, Machine Learning, Bioinformatics, or a related field, with a strong focus on Genomics + ML, and 2+ years of industry (non-academic) experience OR MSc in a relevant field and 5+ years of industry experience applying ML to Genomics problems
- Strong understanding of ML/AI methods for biological data (e.g., transformers, VAEs, diffusion models, classical ML)
- Hands-on experience with modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch (or equivalent)
- Leadership experience with small teams to work towards defined roadmaps or projects
- Excellent communication skills — able to translate complex science into clear, actionable insights for technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Comfortable in a fast-paced, high-iteration environment, moving quickly from prototype → experiment → insight
- Strong passion for building at the intersection of biology and machine learning