Director, Machine Learning, Alzheimer's Disease Initiative

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

• Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets,  accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
• Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the Position

We are searching for an exceptional scientific leader to establish a new team within Arc Institute’s Computational Technology Center, serving as the Director, Machine Learning for our Alzheimer's Disease Initiative (ADI). 

This ambitious initiative spans Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator Laboratories and focuses on high-throughput interrogation of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease mechanisms using advanced gene editing and functional genomics approaches. As the Machine Learning Research Lead, ADI, you will spearhead development of sophisticated machine learning foundation models to capture cell states and infer gene regulatory networks and causal relationships to predict therapeutic interventions.

This position offers the rare opportunity to build and lead a world-class team while making direct contributions to understanding and potentially treating Alzheimer's disease through state-of-the-art computational biology and machine learning approaches.

About You

• You are passionate about machine learning and computational biology, with expertise in applying cutting edge ML approaches to biological systems
• You excel at developing interpretable machine learning approaches, such as variational inference and causal modeling methods
• You are excited about building and leading a technical team while remaining hands-on with foundation model development and implementation. 
• You thrive in collaborative, multidisciplinary environments and enjoy working with both computational scientists and wet lab biologists
• You are a continuous learner who stays current with the latest developments, in both machine learning and neuroscience

In This Position, You Will

• Attract, build and lead a team of exceptional machine learning research scientists dedicated to developing foundation models for cellular systems in Alzheimer's disease
• Develop and execute on a roadmap of interpretable machine learning approaches to understand disease mechanisms, with emphasis on variational inference, causal modeling, as well as modern transformer- and diffusion-based architectures
• Work closely with experimentalists on brain organoid/spheroid cellular models as well as in vivo models, working with scRNA-seq, Perturb-seq and other datasets to unravel causal gene pathways relevant to Alzheimer’s disease
• Develop predictive modeling approaches to identify how perturbations can move cell states from high risk Alzheimer’s profiles back to healthy / low risk states
• Collaborate closely with experimental biologists to ensure ML models are grounded in disease biology and can feedback into future experimental strategies
• Foster collaborations with external partners in the computational biology and neuroscience communities
• Publish high-impact research through preprints, journal publications, open source code, and presentations at leading conferences

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related quantitative field
• 7+ years of relevant experience with a minimum of 3 years of people management experience
• Strong research background with experience in academic settings (university, research institute) and/or biotech/pharmaceutical industry with a focus on scientific innovation
• Proven expertise in machine learning applications to biological datasets, with specific experience in single-cell profiling data and foundation model development
• Deep experience with interpretable machine learning approaches for biological systems (e.g. variational inference methods).
• Advanced technical skills in machine learning frameworks, particularly PyTorch, and ideally experience with model training at scale
• Publications in top-tier journals in computational biology and machine learning
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present complex machine learning concepts to both computational and biological audiences
• Proven ability to remain technically hands-on while providing effective team leadership, mentorship, and management
• Background in neurodegeneration research including familiarity with Alzheimer's disease datasets, pathways, networks, disease mechanisms, and eQTL analysis is a plus 

The base salary range for this position is $380,000-$420,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

In addition to the Base Salary and Annual Bonus above, you will be eligible to participate in the Institute’s Compound Cash Grant Program (the “CCGP”). The CCGP is a program designed to offer multi-year cash grants providing for a fixed dollar amount paid out in semi-annual installments to reward employees for staying and contributing to the Institute. As soon as reasonably practical after your start date, you will receive a grant letter describing the terms of your award under the CCGP.