Computational Biology Technical Lead (AI)

Location: Cambridge, MA, United States; hybrid, with in-person work at the hirify.global at least 3 days per week.

Salary: $150,000–$210,000 per year.

Company

hirify.global of MIT and Harvard is a biomedical research institute using genomics to advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, with open dissemination of discoveries, tools, methods, and data.

What you will do

• Own the architecture, technical roadmap, design, implementation, and optimization of scalable containerized workflows on Terra/Manifold for viral discovery, classification, assembly, and characterization.
• Evaluate emerging bioinformatic tools for virome analysis and identification, select tools for adoption, and integrate them into the codebase.
• Help define cloud deployment strategy, scalability, and cost efficiency while forecasting compute and cost needs across projects.
• Represent the lab’s engineering work to the Human Virome Program consortium and external collaborators, adapting workflows to research needs and deadlines.
• Supervise and mentor junior computational trainees and employees, and identify team skill-development needs.
• Advise collaborators and Broad groups on bioinformatics, genomics, compute infrastructure, and AI best practices.

Requirements

• MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
• 10+ years of experience with a bachelor’s degree, 8+ years with an MSc, or 5+ years with a PhD.
• Track record of leading or maintaining open-source bioinformatics software.
• Knowledge of software packaging and distribution, including PyPI or Conda.
• Familiarity with Docker, CI/CD pipelines, Git, and collaborative software development practices.
• Experience with Terra or other cloud-based platforms for large-scale genomic analysis, including cost management at scale.
• Proficiency in WDL or Nextflow and workflow engines such as Cromwell or miniWDL on cloud platforms.
• Strong programming skills in Python and Bash, including hands-on experience with machine-learning workflows using tools such as scikit-learn, PyTorch, or TensorFlow.
• Proficiency in agentic coding tools, practices, and harnesses; ability to handle ambiguous open-ended problems with minimal oversight, manage tasks efficiently, and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with training and inference on GPUs, managing CUDA environments, and optimizing machine-learning performance in high-throughput settings.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative work with the CDC Pathogen Genomics Center of Excellence, NIH Human Virome Program, external collaborators, and interdisciplinary research teams.
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan, flexible spending and health savings accounts.
• At least 13 paid holidays, winter closure, paid time off, parental and family care leave, and an employee assistance program.