Sr. Scientist, RNA Foundation Models

Research Scientist, Machine Learning Foundation ModelsAI Research | Full-Time | Toronto, Canada · Cambridge, MAAbout the OpportunityA leading AI-driven drug discovery organization is seeking an exceptional Senior/Staff Machine Learning Scientist to help lead its core AI research team, with a specific focus on building Biological Foundation Models for RNA biology.The RoleLead the architecture, training, and scientific validation of large-scale foundation models on genomic, transcriptomic, and single-cell datasets, working in close partnership with computational biologists and drug developers to ensure models capture biologically meaningful, mechanistically grounded representations.What You'll OwnFoundation Model Architecture: Deep emphasis on CNNs, Transformers, and sequence models (including state-space models) purpose-built for RNA and genomic sequence data.Biological Grounding: Embed deep biological priors directly into model architectures and training objectives, tying model design to RNA biology and therapeutic mechanism.Model Development at Scale: Implement, train, debug, and rigorously evaluate large-scale models, demonstrating scientific validity on frontier problems in RNA-based genetic medicine.What You BringPhD (or equivalent demonstrated expertise) with a strong research focus in Computational Biology, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field.Deep, hands-on expertise building foundation models: CNNs, Transformers, and sequence/state-space models applied to biological or genomic sequence data.Demonstrated track record building foundation models applied towards RNAStrong PyTorch proficiency; experience training and debugging large-scale deep learning models