Head of Platform
About The Position
Drug discovery has a translation problem: more than 95% of drugs that succeed in animal models fail in humans. We're building the alternative: human-first drug discovery, powered by organoids and AI, running on real human biology from the very first experiment. Our platform is 87% concordant with clinical patient data - a vast improvement over the 3% translational success rate of animals. We’ve demonstrated the ability to model immunotoxicology, immunogen stimulation, and two autoimmune diseases with more on the way. Numerous pharma partners including 3 Fortune 500 companies are already using the platform. We've raised ~$30M from AIX Ventures, Marc Benioff, Jeff Dean, and Y Combinator. With the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 and the FDA's March 2026 validation framework, the regulatory tailwinds only continue to get stronger. The opportunity ahead of the company is generational: build the first scaled engine for generating real human biological data, and use it to fundamentally change how medicines are discovered.
Requirements
- Deep, credible experience in designing and deploying similar systems.
- Academic credentials and work experience to think through and own the entire development roadmap of these workcells.
- A builder who has taken complex hardware-software systems from blank page to operational, ideally in lab automation, robotics, or biotech.
- Deep technical range in at least two of: mechanical engineering, robotics, computer vision, lab automation — and ability to engage with experts in the rest.
- Cross-functional leadership experience, managing teams where biologists, hardware engineers, and software engineers ship together.
- End-to-end ownership experience: Design it, prototype it, ship it, scale it.
- A tinkerer and an inventor, motivated by building new things.
- Energized by autonomy and solving hard, ambiguous problems.
- Ability to be both a leader and an operator, working hands-on in the lab and managing hiring.
Nice To Haves
- Hands-on experience with organoid culture, microfluidics, or high-content imaging
- Experience building or contributing to lab orchestration software (SiLA, OPC UA, PyLabRobot, etc.)
- Experience scaling a platform from one workcell to many
Responsibilities
- Design, prototype, and build fully autonomous workcells across the entire organoid lifecycle — seeding, culture maintenance, perturbation, harvest, and assay execution.
- Own all mechanical engineering, robotics, and computer vision required to move the platform from discretely automated to fully end-to-end.
- Evolve our internal orchestration software to design and execute experiments in an equipment-agnostic way, across every workcell we build.
- Find the next automation frontier: Identify, ideate, prototype, and build new workcells for every part of the wet lab still touching human hands.
- Build and lead the team, managing a cross-functional team of biologists, hardware engineers, and software engineers.
- Partner closely with the Head of AI/ML so every workcell is purpose-built for the data it produces.
Benefits
- Equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
