(Senior) Computational Biologist/Chemist

Brightseed enables a healthier future by illuminating and activating the connections between plants and people. Despite centuries of wisdom proving the critical roles plants play in supporting our health, the majority of small molecules in the plant kingdom remain unexplored. Using computational biology and machine learning, Brightseed's Forager® is the first and only artificial intelligence designed to uncover how plant small molecules impact human biology. Forager's discoveries support major areas of human health, including metabolism, digestion, cognition, and immunity. Discoveries undergo clinical evaluation, regulatory review, and commercial development to deliver powerful, yet natural solutions.

JOIN US, AND BE YOU

We are committed to making transformative discoveries with a team-first mentality. Successful team members are truth-seeking and trusting, with the tenacity required to trail blaze in uncharted territory. We are a collaborative team that actively seeks input and values differing perspectives. And we produce tangible results, holding ourselves accountable in the process.

We are also committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of connectedness and inclusion. We grow and learn together, respecting professional and personal experiences, areas of expertise, and types of self expression.

In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that each one of us brings in terms of education, opinions, culture, color, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran's status, religion, different abilities, sexual orientation and beliefs.

ABOUT YOU

You are an expert computational biologist/chemist with a passion for exploring the chemical diversity encoded in organismal genomes and how that diversity can be harnessed for the betterment of human health. At Brightseed, you will be responsible for building out an innovative computational platform that integrates machine learning, metabolomics technologies, and high-throughput screening data, to elucidate the natural products space found in major domains of life including plants, fungi, and microbes. As part of your work, you will build-out our internal capabilities to perform data analysis and visualizations in collaboration with our interdisciplinary team. Ultimately, your work will result in computational pipelines as a crucial part of our Forager® platform to make novel discoveries. This role will report to the Senior Director, Discovery and is based in South San Francisco.
In particular, you will:

• Lead computational investigations that apply computational approaches to in-house biological data resources, resulting in novel natural product discoveries that enable a healthier, more nutritious food industry.
• Design, develop, and implement algorithms across a range of application objectives, including molecular bioactivity prediction, de novo elucidation of plant metabolomes, and metabolic network reconstruction, among others.
• Design, build, and operate data pipelines that perform core scientific analyses.
• Capture, curate, and manage data sets, including creating data analysis tools and databases.
• As part of a team, assist in building and maintaining the R&D computational infrastructure, including apps, pipelines, servers, databases, and cloud services.
• Integrate with the in-house chemistry and medical teams to build a seamless group spanning multiple scientific disciplines.

During the first year at Brightseed, we would expect you to:

• Successfully deliver a major project (internal or external) by joining the computation team in launching an initiative to identify natural plant compounds that address major areas of focus in human health
• Collaborate with a group of metabolomics scientists, chemists, biologists, engineers, business personnel and computational scientists to identify and solve data analysis problems in order to address project needs
• Build data infrastructure by designing and implementing automated data pipelines for computational investigations including statistical analysis, model-based predictions, and visualizations
• Capture and keep institutional knowledge by maintaining a clear codebase and documentation

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Computational Biology, Computational Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Biostatistics, Biophysics, Chemistry, Computer Science, or related discipline
• A track record of achievements in designing and performing computational investigations
• Excellent data science skills with hands on data wrangling and visualization expertise
• Capable of planning and delivering results within a predefined project timeline
• Experience in statistics and machine learning applications is highly desirable
• Strong collaborative and oral and written communication skills

Additional experience with one or more of the following is a plus: