AI Biologist - Drug Development
About The Position
Latch builds scientific benchmarks for AI agents in biology and works with frontier labs and pharmaceutical companies to assess agents on real biological workflows. The AI Biologist - Drug Development will help develop technical approaches for evaluating how agents reason across the drug discovery and development pipeline, from target validation through IND-enabling studies, and how they translate preclinical data into program decisions. The role works with software engineers and scientists to build datasets and AI-agent tasks across drug development. This includes creating realistic program case studies, curating multimodal preclinical data, evaluating pharmacology and toxicology findings, reconstructing go/no-go decisions, and reviewing agent responses for scientific and practical soundness. The biologist will also help calibrate agent confidence when preclinical evidence is incomplete or conflicting. Latch describes its culture as transparent, collaborative, and focused on output rather than time in a seat. Work hours are flexible within a typical team schedule, with a few pod check-ins each week. The role may begin on the bench that best fits the employee’s expertise, with opportunities to move across teams. The position is full-time W-2 and may be remote, hybrid, or onsite in San Francisco; onsite work is preferred. Compensation is $140,000–$180,000 OTE, comprising base pay and uncapped performance pay, with the split varying by state.
Requirements
- Advanced degree (MS, PhD, or PharmD) in pharmacology, toxicology, pharmaceutical sciences, medicinal chemistry, or a related biomedical field, or equivalent industry experience.
- At least 3 years of hands-on experience in pharma or biotech drug discovery or development.
- Direct experience with lead optimization, candidate nomination, or IND-enabling study design in at least one modality.
- Experience interpreting PK/PD, ADME, and GLP toxicology data to inform dose selection and risk assessment.
- Working knowledge of core pharmacology and toxicology study types, including GLP toxicology, safety pharmacology, genotoxicity, biodistribution, and bioanalytical assays.
- Experience evaluating SAR, potency, selectivity, and developability trade-offs across candidate molecules.
- Strong scientific writing skills and ability to produce clear, evidence-supported rationales for drug development decisions.
- Proficiency using AI agents and judgment to identify when model reasoning is technically correct but pharmacologically or practically unsound.
- Comfort operating in uncertainty and proactively flagging gaps in data or instructions.
- High agency and initiative.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with IND-enabling regulatory requirements and the nonclinical data package expected by FDA/EMA.
Responsibilities
- Contribute to technical approaches for evaluating AI-agent reasoning across the drug discovery and development pipeline, from target validation through IND-enabling studies.
- Design realistic program case studies spanning target validation, lead optimization, candidate nomination, and IND-enabling studies across modalities.
- Curate multimodal preclinical data bundles, including SAR and potency panels, ADME/PK profiles, in vivo efficacy, GLP toxicology, safety pharmacology, and biodistribution data.
- Evaluate PK/PD, GLP toxicology, and safety pharmacology findings across modalities and development stages.
- Reconstruct program go/no-go decisions from multiple data sources.
- Review and stress-test agent outputs for pharmacological soundness, identifying reasoning that may be textbook-correct but indefensible in a program review.
- Calibrate AI-agent confidence on preclinical data with incomplete or conflicting signals rather than forcing a binary decision.
Benefits
- Health, dental, and vision coverage: 100% covered for the employee and 50% for dependents.
- 401(k) with no match.
- 12 days of PTO to start, with more as the employee is promoted.
- Equity.
- Catered lunch and dinner and unlimited snacks at the onsite San Francisco office.
- Company outings most months and team offsites.
- Full OTE during the first four weeks of onboarding.
- Full OTE for the duration of a special project when assigned.
- Full OTE for a day if the platform goes down.
- Work authorization sponsorship for H-1B (including transfers), O-1, and TN; support for STEM OPT.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
