Senior Bioinformatician / Cheminformatician - Database Management

Job content

What we do

Despite millenia of knowledge regarding the therapeutic potential of plants, more than 99% of the small molecules within this kingdom of life remain unexplored. Terra Lumina is on a mission to empower a healthier humanity by unlocking the therapeutic potential of nature. We leverage cutting-edge approaches in cheminformatics, computational biology & machine learning to build our highly-scalable, AI-powered Natural Product Discovery platform. Our platform illuminates the connection between nature’s small molecules & the human body - accelerating discovery of novel therapeutic compounds that address humanity’s most pressing health challenges.

Our venture is incubated at Merantix, an AI Venture Studio which conceptualizes, builds and scales machine learning companies. Our company builder network is made up of more than 80 engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs from leading universities.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity. We consider all applications equally regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in tech to apply.

Your role

We are looking for a Senior Bioinformatician / Cheminformatician who is driven to build a highly-scalable natural product discovery platform with the help of a strong technical & entrepreneurial team, and secured seed financing. You will be responsible for setting up a robust & versatile data platform, bringing together data from a variety of sources and leveraging AI to accelerate the discovery of therapeutic small molecules from plants.

You will be an early core team member, having a significant impact, creating the company from the ground up through your work, scientific and computational expertise. You will be part of the technical team, whose task is to build the infrastructure of our platform in order to uncover the value of natural products in human health.

What you’ll do:

• Lead the design, development and scale-up of our proprietary natural compounds dataset
• Design, develop and implement robust data processing workflows and storage environments
• Collaborate with both our scientific & tech teams to provide chem-/bioinformatics expertise, including data collection and standardization, database structure, workflow development, algorithmic design, data analysis, and visualization
• Work hand in hand with a machine learning engineer to implement these core algorithms into our technology platform; build and supervise a team of data scientists over time
• Coordinate and perform data analysis efforts on different projects; communicate results to diverse audiences, including project teams, collaborators, and customers
• Use good programming practices, documentation and reproducible research.
• Dissemination of results, where appropriate, in the form of conference presentations and research articles
• Stay abreast with new technological advancements and analyze them for potential inclusion in our platform

Your profile

What we think is essential:

• Advanced Degree in Cheminformatics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computational Chemistry, Biotechnology, Data Science, or related discipline
• 3-5+ years relevant experience handling & analyzing chemical and biological data in academia or industry
• Experience with building large chemical databases associated with bioactivity data and other biological endpoints
• Familiarity with SQL, Python, scikit-learn; chemical toolkits (e.g. RDKit); chemical workflow environments (particularly KNIME); and chemical cartridges
• Software development experience, familiarity with version control tools, and reproducible research practices
• Strong oral & written communication skills in English

What we also like in applicants:

• PhD in Cheminformatics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field
• 1-3+ years of work experience on commercial-scale R&D teams
• Proficient working knowledge in chemistry
• Familiarity with drug ADMET properties and their prediction
• Experience with cloud deployment (AWS, Azure, GCP) and high-performance computing
• Experience with deep learning environments such as PyTorch or Keras
• Molecular modeling experience, e.g. in virtual screening, pharmacophore modeling, QSAR, docking, structure or ligand-based modeling

You are a great fit for our team if this describes you:

• Entrepreneurial and ambitious mindset: Creative, focused, passionate and not easily discouraged, excellent analytical problem-solving skills, strategic, agile & adaptable
• Strong organization and multitasking skills with the ability to prioritize appropriately and effectively
• Demonstrated ability of working in teams to lead & collaborate successfully on a common vision
• Self-motivated, resourceful, dependable, proactive, execution and solution-oriented
• Collaborative, open-minded, values diversity and promotes inclusivity

What we offer

In addition to a competitive salary and early-team equity package, you can expect the following:

• Instrumental impact on the strategy & culture of the company as an early leadership team member
• Collaborate with a team who are passionate about our mission: Thrive in an environment with colleagues who inspire you to learn, grow, and make a real impact on the world’s most pressing health challenges
• Personal growth & development: We offer learning & development programs that will help you on your career path and achieve your dreams.
• A team that values diversity: Join a team that embraces diverse perspectives, that encourages collaborative and inclusive exchange between people of all backgrounds and identities.
• An office based in a highly innovative environment - Newly renovated office at the AI Campus in the heart of Berlin, complete with fresh fruit, Friday beers, and an amazing ecosystem of other startups, engineers and data scientists for regular intensive exchange.