AI Biologist - Metagenomics

Ai Biologist - Metagenomics

Latch builds rigorous scientific benchmarks (benchmarks.bio http://benchmarks.bio) for AI agents across biology. We work with frontier labs and pharma to measure whether agents can handle real biological workflows: the messy, multi-layer reasoning that matters in the field.

We're seeking a AI Biologist to join our Metagenomics team, working at the frontier of what artificial intelligence can achieve in biology.

About the Role

You will contribute to our technical approach for evaluating how AI agents reason through complex microbiome and metagenomics datasets. Working with software engineers and computational biologists, you'll build ground-truth benchmark datasets: drawn from real published microbiome studies, that rigorously test whether agents can perform the critical analytical and interpretive steps that expert microbiome researchers execute.

Your deep expertise in microbiome biology, metagenomics analysis, and the ability to identify confounders and technical artifacts will define how we measure agent capability in computational microbiology.

Requirements

- Master's or PhD in microbiology, microbial ecology, bioinformatics, biology, or related field

- 3+ years of hands-on research experience with microbiome or metagenomics data, demonstrated through publications or industry work

- Deep expertise in at least one of: - Human microbiome and disease (e.g. IBD, CRC, obesity) - Longitudinal microbiome or microbiome interventions (e.g. FMT, diet, antibiotics) - Microbial function and metabolism - Plant, soil, or environmental microbial ecology

- Experience interpreting microbiome data in biological context and identifying confounders, technical artifacts, and limitations of the underlying experiments

- Proficiency in Python and/or R for biological data analysis and visualization

- Familiarity with 16S and/or shotgun metagenomics, including taxonomic, functional, and community-level analysis

Nice-to-Have

- Hands-on experience designing or troubleshooting microbiome experiments, including sampling, extraction, controls, or library preparation

- Experience integrating metagenomics with metabolomics, metatranscriptomics, host omics, or clinical phenotypes

- Experience with strain-level analysis, metagenomic assembly, MAGs, or long-read sequencing

Culture @ Latch

How we work. We practice radical transparency: you’ll know how the company is doing, what’s working, and what isn’t. It’s always us against the problem, never each other. We’re respectfully opinionated, we respect each other’s time, and we think through possible solutions before we bring a problem to anyone. Most of the team arrives between 7 and 10am and leaves between 4 and 7pm. Nobody tracks when you’re in, but we give each other a heads-up on Slack when we’re running later than usual. We judge output, not time in a seat, and the only fixed meeting are a few pod check-ins per week. We use AI constantly, so we reward original expert judgment, not AI output passed off as your own. You’ll start on the bench that fits your expertise and can move across teams as you build a track record.

Outside of work. Company outings most months, team offsites, and a community that does cycling, soccer, figure skating, boxing, running, martial arts, music, books, and game nights.

Compensation & Logistics (US)

- Pay: $140K–$180K OTE, a mix of base & uncapped performance pay. Split varies by state. - Performance pay is based on weekly quota attainment. - If we pull you onto a special project, you’re paid full OTE for its duration. - If the platform goes down, you’re paid full OTE for that day.

- Ramp: full OTE for your first 4 weeks while we onboard you into our workflows.

- Employment: full-time W-2 - Health, dental, vision: 100% covered for you, 50% for dependents - 401(k) (no match) - PTO: 12 days to start, more as you’re promoted

- Growth: promotions are based on output, not tenure, with OTE rising at each level.

- Location: remote, hybrid, or onsite in SF. Onsite is preferred: waterfront office in Mission Bay, catered lunch and dinner, unlimited snacks.

- Work authorization: we sponsor H-1B (incl. transfers), O-1, TN, and support STEM OPT.

Interview Process

Timeline: We move fast: no longer than 2 week interview process

1. Apply

2. Take-Home Project - HackerRank

3. Latch Intro - Talent Team

4. Technical Interview - Member of Technical Staff

5. Culture Interview - C-Suite

6. Offer

7. Background Check