Founding Scientist / Co-Founder

About the Role This is a rare opportunity to join as a Founding Scientist / Co-Founder at an early-stage AI-for-biology startup based in Germany. This role sits at the intersection of wet-lab science and computational AI — you will help shape the company's scientific strategy, build core technology, and bridge hands-on experimental work with AI-driven workflows to accelerate biological discovery. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

• Define and lead the scientific vision and research roadmap for early-stage AI + wet-lab products.
• Design and execute key molecular biology, biochemistry, or genomics experiments to validate models and assays.
• Collaborate closely with engineers and ML researchers to translate experimental needs into computational requirements.
• Implement and oversee lab automation and data pipelines to scale experiments and improve reproducibility.
• Prototype computational tools and analyses; contribute code or notebooks integrating wet-lab data with predictive models.
• Mentor and recruit early scientific hires; establish laboratory best practices and safety standards.
• What We're Looking For
• Required:
• Hands-on experience designing, executing, and interpreting molecular biology, biochemistry, or genomics experiments.
• Experience leading scientific teams, mentoring early-career scientists, and recruiting for scientific roles.
• Proficiency in programming for data analysis (e.g., Python) and fluency with notebooks for data-driven biology workflows.
• Experience designing and implementing data pipelines that integrate wet-lab data with computational models and analyses.
• Senior-level research background — PhD strongly preferred, or equivalent industry experience.
• Training or research experience at a leading research institution or university.
• Nice to Have:
• Prior experience at AI-for-biology companies, biotech startups, or similar industry environments.
• Experience with ML applied to biological data.
• Hands-on experience with lab automation systems.
• Prior founder experience or direct experience scaling early-stage teams and operations.
• Compensation & Benefits
• Compensation details have not been specified for this role. As a co-founding position, equity will form a meaningful component of the package. Specific terms will be discussed directly with candidates.
• Location
• This is an on-site role based in Germany. Candidates must be available to work on-site. Visa sponsorship is not available — applicants must already have the right to work in Germany.
• Find Jobs in Germany on Arbeitnow

• Research
• Data analysis
• Python
• Operations
• Training
• Safety standards

Clera