Co-founder & CEO, AI for predictable drug discovery and development

Deep Science Ventures • San Francisco, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

We are building an AI system to fix the drug discovery process. Our scalable, closed-loop agentic system performs scientific reasoning and analysis end-to-end, generating traceable and verifiable predictions and decisions. We are seeking an experienced founder and operator to join our Technical and Product founders. As Co-founder & CEO, your role is to guide a built, already-used platform from spin-out through a competitive seed round, a Series A, and beyond. This is a full-time, UK-based position, spinning out of Deep Science Ventures in the coming months. Drug discovery is a critical global challenge, hindered by biological complexity, sparse data, and slow trial-and-error cycles. Current approaches, including increased compute and data, have not made the process predictable. Incremental improvements are insufficient due to limitations in human cognitive capacity. A fundamental shift is needed: an AI framework that reasons end-to-end, integrating literature, data, and wet-lab experiments, leveraging the strengths of agentic models while mitigating their weaknesses. A proof-of-concept has been successfully tested on multiple use cases, processing single-cell data, ingesting experimental facts, mapping biology, and returning traceable drug-target hypotheses. This work, a collaboration with the Allen Institute, has been submitted for publication. The current system reliably produces strong results for target validation, with plans to expand to all modalities to achieve reliable clinical trial prediction with biological explanations. Our methodology emphasizes rigorous, scored benchmarks over presentations, focusing on clinical trial prediction and mechanistic explanation. A validated engine will be capable of addressing all stages of drug development, ultimately enabling outcome prediction and modification. Our mission is to fundamentally change what is possible in drug development, not just to accelerate the current process.

Requirements

• World-class expertise in a related technical field (AI, ML, therapeutics, etc.).
• Either you've personally led a priced round, or your name and track record make one raisable.
• US or UK based (or flexible on moving) and able to go full-time from spin-out.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a leading AI lab or AI-drug-discovery company in a genuinely impactful role.
• A strong, transferable investor network in deep-tech, AI, bio or health.
• Have scaled a company from seed to Series A and beyond.
• Commercial and business-development track record: partnerships, pilots, paying customers.
• Experience selling technical or scientific software into pharma, biotech or research institutions.

Responsibilities

• Shape strategy and positioning alongside the founding team.
• Lead fundraising: run a competitive seed round and the path to Series A.
• Build the commercial engine: partnerships, pilots and paying customers across pharma and biotech.
• Build the company: hiring, story, board, grant and academic partnerships, and day-to-day operations.

Benefits

• A genuine co-founder equity stake, milestone-linked so that delivering a strong round is richly rewarded.
• Access to proprietary venture-building tools, resources and processes proven to create high-impact companies from scratch.
• Access to DSV's global network of investors, advisors and industrial partners.
• A proven, working platform and a hard technical moat already in place - your job is the market and the money, not the technology.
• Continuous post-spinout support including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment and team-building.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed