🚀 About Lila Sciences

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science.  We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method.  We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at  www.lila.ai    

At Lila, we are uniquely cross-functional and collaborative. We are actively reimagining the way teams work together and communicate. Therefore, we seek individuals with an inclusive mindset and a diversity of thought. Our teams thrive in unstructured and creative environments. All voices are heard because we know that experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

🌟 Your Impact at Lila 

We are seeking an experienced leader in cell-based biology platforms who will lead cell-based model system engineering and developmental biology on our platform for autonomous science: an intelligent system operating across the entire reason-design-build-test-learn loop to generate new knowledge and unlock therapeutic design at unprecedented scale. We seek a hands-on leader who can establish new biological capabilities from the ground up and then lead their use as the foundation of entirely new kinds of experimentation and discovery. 

We’re looking for an (Associate) Director, Cell Model Engineering and Developmental Biology, who will: 

• Architect and operationalize a stem cell biology technology stack inside a growing AI-native platform. 
• Engineer new ways for differentiated cells to report, respond, and adapt to experimental inputs and process controls. 
• Take a hands-on approach to launching new life science capabilities at Lila. This includes a blend of initial laboratory build and execution with recruiting and leading a team of scientists to scale the platform. 
• Lead cross-functional teams of biologists, engineers, and AI scientists to invent the next layers of platform capability. 

🛠️ What You'll Be Building

• Architect, build, and lead campaigns that build Scientific Superintelligence within the Lila platform – and then apply this capability to valuable efforts in basic biological discovery, and to diverse aspects of drug development 
• Develop multi-modal systems for measuring and modeling cell biology at scale, drawing on experimental methods including single-cell and spatial multi-omics, high-content imaging, and functional assays. 
• Lead a strategy for autonomous, AI-driven control of developmental biology experimentation, including transdifferentiation, iPSC induction, and target cell differentiation.  
• Translate cutting-edge biology into reliable, automatable protocols that feed into closed-loop experimental cycles. Partner with automation, software, and AI teams to co-design biology that’s built to scale and built to learn. 
• Oversee cross-functional, product-focused teams that blend expertise in experimental biology, robotics, and machine learning 
• Bring an engineer’s mindset to biology, operating in a way that is scalable, reproducible, modular, and composable. 
• Be a source of scientific vision, a mentor to others, and a people manager, shaping both the work and the way we work. 

🧰 What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ph.D. (or equivalent industrial expertise) in stem cell biology, developmental biology, or bioengineering. 
• 10+ years of post-degree experience in building cell-based translational models. This should include primary cells, ex vivo tissue systems, multiplex edited cell lines, organoids, or iPSC-derived cells.
• Experience applying these systems in a high-throughput drug discovery environment, with application to target ID/validation, phenotypic screening, or nonclinical toxicology.
• Experience in the technology and application of stem cell differentiation and engineering, ideally across multiple lineages and application spaces. 
• Experience building biological tools that others use, including protocols, platforms, cell lines, or toolkits.
• 1+ year of experience managing people, including early- and mid-career scientists and engineers.
• Fluency in multiple “languages”: hypothesis-driven biology, quantitative biology approaches, large-scale data manipulation and modeling, automation, closed-loop design-build-test-learn. 

🌈 We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

🤝 A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

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