Research Leader (Computational Biology), London

Research Leader (Computational Biology), London

Isomorphic Labs is a new Alphabet company that is reimagining drug discovery through a computational- and AI-first approach.

We are on a mission to accelerate the speed, increase the efficacy and lower the cost of drug discovery. You'll be working at the cutting edge of the new era of 'digital biology' to deliver a transformative social impact for the benefit of millions of people.

Come and be part of a multi-disciplinary team driving groundbreaking innovation and play a meaningful role in contributing towards us achieving our ambitious goals, while being a part of an inspiring, collaborative and entrepreneurial culture.

Your impact

This is an exciting opportunity for you to contribute to an ambitious Computational Biology research programme, working in partnership with leading Machine Learning (ML) researchers, Chemists and Biologists. Building on the successful models in place to predict protein structure (AlphaFold-3), there is an unique opportunity for a Research Leader to have a direct impact on drug discovery using innovative Computational Biology and ML approaches. This is a newly created role; driven by a passion for problem solving, you will need to use your previous experience and show initiative in order to fully carve out your contribution.

What you will do

• Use your deep technical experience and scientific knowledge to plan, lead, and deliver original research projects that impact critical problems in drug development.
• Use your broad expertise to undertake analysis of biomedical datasets, including genetics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, functional perturbation screens, imaging, knowledge graphs, PPI, clinical or other data types. 
• Be empowered to develop detailed research directions within the scope of the Computational Biology strategy, and design these projects to make an impact on company goals.
• Function as a subject matter and technical expert in multi-disciplinary teams, sharing your knowledge and expertise generously with your colleagues.
• Influence Iso’s strategy, ensuring innovative insights are consistently brought to bear within drug development programmes.
• Contribute to the wider development of Iso’s ML computational platform, working with other engineers to architect, build, and operate the platform’s components in a cross-disciplinary working environment.
• Work with other members of the Computational Biology team and key stakeholders to deliver a unified team strategy.
• Provide documentation, guidance, and communication on computational biology to the wider organisation.
• Proactively identify complex problems and solve them in a creative and innovative way with minimal guidance.
• You may have formal line management and/or matrix management responsibilities, as well as responsibility for mentoring junior colleagues to enable the technical work of others.
• You may represent the company in external situations such as working with partners, within consortia, and with CROs as a project or collaboration lead. 

Skills and qualifications

Essential:

• A PhD plus extensive experience in computational biology, potentially including in leadership roles
• Track record of delivery of outstanding research
• Expertise with detailed data quality control procedures and data visualisation
• Experience with experimental design, and data generation, quality control and statistical analysis
• Sophisticated understanding of computational biology methodologies as applied in biomedical research
• Deep understanding of the principles of molecular cell biology, genetics, or related biological disciplines
• Familiarity with data processing pipelines and analytical tools
• Ability to effectively communicate complex scientific concepts to a variety of audiences
• Programming skills in a language such as Python (ideally), or R
• Experience working in a Linux environment
• Demonstrate ongoing career progression / trajectory and a passion for learning and problem solving

Nice to have:

• Prior experience in the context of therapeutic or diagnostic development programmes
• Familiarity with a variety of assaying techniques, including NGS, cell-based assays, functional genomics, single-cell techniques, and image-based assays with expertise in their respective data analysis approaches
• Experience working with clinical data
• Expertise in developing computational biology methods for problems relevant to drug discovery
• Experience applying computational biology workflows on Google Cloud Platform
• Strong experience in developing software in Python
• Hands-on experience in applying ML (especially deep learning) models in the field of computational biology

Culture and values

What does it take to be successful at IsoLabs? It's not about finding people who think and act in the same way, but we do have some shared values:

Thoughtful
Thoughtful at Iso is about curiosity, creativity and care. It is about good people doing good, rigorous and future-making science every single day.

Brave
Brave at Iso is about fearlessness, but it’s also about initiative and integrity. The scale of the challenge demands nothing less.

Determined
Determined at Iso is the way we pursue our goal. It’s a confidence in our hypothesis, as well as the urgency and agility needed to deliver on it. Because disease won’t wait, so neither should we.

Together
Together at Iso is about connection, collaboration across fields and catalytic relationships. It’s knowing that transformation is a group project, and remembering that what we’re doing will have a real impact on real people everywhere.

Creating an inclusive company

We realise that to be successful we need our teams to reflect and represent the populations we are striving to serve. We’re working to build a supportive and inclusive environment where collaboration is encouraged and learning is shared. We value diversity of experience, knowledge, backgrounds and perspectives and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. 

We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Hybrid working

It’s hugely important for us to be able to share knowledge and establish relationships with each other, and we find it easier to do this if we spend time together in person. This is why we’ve decided to follow a hybrid model, and for full time positions we would require you to be able to come into the office 3 days a week (currently Tue, Wed, and one other day depending on which team you’re in). For part time positions this may vary.  As an equal opportunities employer we are committed to building an equal and inclusive team. If you have additional needs that would prevent you from following this hybrid approach, we’d be happy to talk through these if you’re selected for an initial screening call.

Please note that when you submit an application, your data will be processed in line with our privacy policy.

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