AI Biologist - Metagenomics

LatchBio • San Francisco, CA

89d • $120,000 - $180,000 • Remote

About The Position

As molecular data generation and frontier model intelligence grows, new approaches to data analysis are needed across the biotech industry. Latch is building intelligent, high-performance agents for biological data analysis, empowering over 5,000 scientists across 150+ R&D labs to handle data from instrument-to-insights. We're seeking a Ai Biologist to join our Metagenomics team, working at the frontier of what artificial intelligence can achieve in biology. You will contribute to our technical approach for evaluating how AI agents reason through complex microbiome and metagenomics datasets. Working with software engineers and computational biologists, you'll build ground-truth benchmark datasets: drawn from real published microbiome studies, that rigorously test whether agents can perform the critical analytical and interpretive steps that expert microbiome researchers execute. Your deep expertise in microbiome biology, metagenomics analysis, and the ability to identify confounders and technical artifacts will define how we measure agent capability in computational microbiology.

Requirements

• Master's or PhD in microbiology, microbial ecology, bioinformatics, biology, or related field
• 3+ years of hands-on research experience with microbiome or metagenomics data, demonstrated through publications or industry work
• Deep expertise in at least one of: Human microbiome and disease (e.g. IBD, CRC, obesity), Longitudinal microbiome or microbiome interventions (e.g. FMT, diet, antibiotics), Microbial function and metabolism, Plant, soil, or environmental microbial ecology
• Experience interpreting microbiome data in biological context and identifying confounders, technical artifacts, and limitations of the underlying experiments
• Proficiency in Python and/or R for biological data analysis and visualization
• Familiarity with 16S and/or shotgun metagenomics, including taxonomic, functional, and community-level analysis
• Work authorization: OPT visa holders only (not STEM Extension)

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience designing or troubleshooting microbiome experiments, including sampling, extraction, controls, or library preparation
• Experience integrating metagenomics with metabolomics, metatranscriptomics, host omics, or clinical phenotypes
• Experience with strain-level analysis, metagenomic assembly, MAGs, or long-read sequencing
• Proven management skills (for more senior positions)

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the technical approach for evaluating how AI agents reason through complex microbiome and metagenomics datasets.
• Build ground-truth benchmark datasets drawn from real published microbiome studies.
• Rigorously test whether AI agents can perform critical analytical and interpretive steps executed by expert microbiome researchers.
• Define how agent capability is measured in computational microbiology using expertise in microbiome biology, metagenomics analysis, and identification of confounders and technical artifacts.

Benefits

• Genuinely flexible schedules
• 2x free daily meals
• Unlimited snacks
• Company outings most months
• Team offsites
• Community activities (cycling, soccer, figure skating, boxing, run clubs, reading clubs, martial arts, music, game nights)
• 2x free meals/day (onsite)
• Waterfront office (China Basin) (onsite)
• Monthly parking (based on availability) (onsite)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level