Machine Learning Engineer

Retro develops therapies for diseases driven by the biology of aging. We focus on cellular reprogramming and autophagy to rejuvenate cell and tissue function with the ultimate aim of adding 10 years to healthy human lifespan.
We’re building a mission-driven team of accomplished and kind individuals who embrace our startup culture of rapid iteration, transparency, and versatility.
We’re hiring an ML Engineer for our hybrid Applied AI team. Our team merges cutting-edge AI/ML models with traditional and emerging wet lab methodologies to accelerate scientific discovery towards longevity therapeutics. You’ll use your expertise in curating large datasets and building models to accelerate discoveries in our therapeutic programs.
About you:You are an experienced Machine Learning Engineer who is passionate about solving complex challenges and eager for rapid iteration at large scale. You are excited about advancing cutting-edge AI for bio and keen to develop models that push the limits of what is possible and directly impact experimental results. You think critically about your work and will effectively communicate and propose new ideas or different ways of doing things. You are excited by the wins, but equally driven by the failures as opportunities to iterate and try again.

In this role, you will:

• Research and push the boundaries of biological foundation models across multiple modalities (protein and DNA language models, as well as other omics-based models).
• Translate internal and public datasets into tractable modeling problems and biologically relevant evals.
• Analyze and communicate findings and progress to internal teams and collaborators as well as externally.
• Collaborate with wet lab applied AI members to test model-designed sequences in the lab.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have a Ph.D. (Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or related) or equivalent 3-6 years of intensive, relevant research experience. Industry experience is a plus.
• Deep understanding of machine learning and deep learning algorithms.
• Experience working with widely used sequence and structure databases and ability to build custom pipelines to process this data at scale.
• Experience applying good software engineering practices in a scientific environment. Proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks like PyTorch is a must.
• Showcases of technical leadership with scientific achievements, including publications and presentations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work efficiently and productively in a dynamic, scientifically rigorous, and fast-paced environment.

It's a bonus if you:

• Are a hacker: you build quickly, and you find your way to information.
• Enthusiastic about rapidly and creatively experimenting, learning, and constantly improving.
• Excellent at explaining technical concepts clearly with an open communication style.
• You’re energetic, detail-oriented, intellectually curious, ambitious, and deeply pragmatic. You thrive in a culture that embraces rapid iteration and open, straightforward communication.
• Deeply care about aging and extending healthy human lifespan.

We take pride in cultivating an environment that fosters collaboration, open communication, and authenticity. We believe that great results are best delivered by a highly creative team working in concert. We are an equal opportunity employer; we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We are diverse in background and singular in mission.