Principal AI Scientist

Principal AI Scientist

Reports to: Head of AI & Informatics

Team: AI & Informatics

About e-therapeutics

e-therapeutics is a UK-based, AIM listed biotechnology company with an innovative proprietary computational platform designed to enhance drug discovery and a proprietary RNA interference platform, able to silence any gene in the liver. e-therapeutics has combined two cutting-edge technologies and is uniquely positioned at the interface of the hugely promising fields of AI and RNAi, currently working to populate our in-house therapeutic pipeline with novel candidates. To support the company’s next phase of growth we are expanding and are looking for talented and motivated people to join our team with an inquisitive and ‘do what’s needed’ culture. We enjoy our work and strive to create an exciting place to work in an environment where everyone feels comfortable to express their views and opinions.

To take its cutting-edge computational platform technology to the next level, e-therapeutics is looking for talented Scientists and Engineers with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence applications and Large Language Models and a particular focus on Life Sciences. Successful candidates will report directly to the Head of AI & Informatics and will work closely with colleagues across the company to explore and implement AI-driven innovations across the board, supporting the implementation of the next generation of our computational drug discovery and siRNA platforms.

The company is based in London, UK. The working hours for this role are 35hours per week, Monday to Friday, with attendance at the company premises in London on four days per week (Monday to Thursdays).

Duties and Responsibilities Dependent on Specific Experience

• Exact duties and responsibilities will be dependent on specific experience but could include:

• Responsibility for co-developing and implementing cutting-edge in-house AI capabilities and infrastructure primarily in the domain of NLP and, specifically, Large Language Models to support the Company’s work across all domains including Drug Discovery, siRNA Drug Design, IP and Competitive Intelligence initiatives

• Responsibility for software and data engineering projects and development/maintenance of computational platform infrastructure to support AI-driven drug discovery

• Support for working practices, documentation and core engineering standards in software and data platform development to ensure delivery of robust and scalable technical assets, mindful of the current resources and needs of the business

• Review and development of existing platform engineering solutions to support bioinformaticians, computational and discovery biologists, oligonucleotide chemists and business analysts in their exploration and visualisation of structured and unstructured internal and external data using AI tools

• Contribute to the development of detailed plans to enable rapid and efficient execution of projects

Previous experience

• MSc/PhD and ideally post-doctoral or similar experience, in AI/Machine Learning, Textual Analysis/Natural Language Processing and Transformer technology/Large Language Models
• Experience in Network Science and modern statistical methods would be a plus
• Proven track record of contributions to large AI domain software and data engineering projects relevant to the life sciences, ideally in drug discovery, preferably in a biotech start-up environment
• Strong interpersonal skills which support team cohesion while being able to provide direct and constructive feedback and solutions
• Well-developed communication skills with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both in writing (reports, publications in scientific journals, etc) and via oral presentations
• Ability to think critically and demonstrate troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Experience of collaborative projects with other biopharma partners would be an advantage

Key competencies

• Will vary dependent on candidate background but will include some or all of:

• Experience of the application of AI/ML approaches to problems in the Life Sciences

• Knowledge and experience of NLP and Large Language Models

• Familiarity with engineering and data solutions to support bioinformatic workflow design and development, with a focus on ML/AI applications

• An understanding of data management techniques for large-scale scientific data sets

• High level programming skills in a number of modern programming languages such as Java, C/C++, R and Python

• Knowledge and experience of SOA NLP APIs and Machine Learning / Deep Learning frameworks

• Experience of translating user requirements into workflow designs/specifications

• Experience building and optimising data processing pipelines including the underlying workflow management technologies and databases (e.g. Nextflow/Nextflow Tower, SQL/NoSQL).

• Experience with graph databases is highly desirable

• Knowledge and experience of the tools, techniques, and processes of modern software development, e.g. version control, CI/CD, DevOps, and DataOps.

• Experience in cloud native technologies and approaches such as Docker and Kubernetes.

• Good knowledge of cloud computing environments is essential with a preference for AWS

• Experience of UX/UI design and deployment an advantage

• Ability to work well in a team and a willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ to achieve joint goals

Offer

• The challenge and excitement of an expanding, fast-paced company
• The opportunity to contribute to a transformational change in the way drug discovery is done
• Access to a breakthrough GalNAc-siRNA therapeutic platform and novel target ID engine for accelerated candidate generation
• Close collaboration with a great international team of experts across different scientific domains
• The possibility to boost your experience and career
• You will join and lead a highly motivated, international and dynamic team