AI Biologist - Refusal

Title: AI Biologist - Refusal

Location

San Francisco or Remote

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

On-site

Department

Research

Job Description:

AI Biologist - Refusal

As molecular data generation and frontier model intelligence grows, new approaches to data analysis are needed across the biotech industry. Latch is building intelligent, high-performance agents for biological data analysis, empowering over 5,000 scientists across 150+ R&D labs to handle data from instrument-to-insights.

We're seeking a Bioinformatics Engineer to join our Refusal team, working at the frontier of what artificial intelligence can achieve in biology.

About the Role

You will contribute to our technical approach to teaching agents where the boundary lies between legitimate biological research and work that raises meaningful biosecurity concerns, working from real protocols, datasets, and literature to establish ground truth for evaluations.

You will work as part of a team of software engineers and biologists building datasets to teach these agents to reason better across:

• Distinguishing legitimate research from high-risk requests

• Pathogen engineering & gain-of-function concerns

• Immune evasion & enhanced transmissibility

• Countermeasure & antiviral resistance

• Dual-use protocol & method assessment

Requirements

• 5+ years hands-on experience with virology, microbiology, immunology, synthetic biology, bioengineering or a related field

• Hands-on experience working with sequencing data, molecular cloning, and reverse genetics, and reasoning through wet-lab protocols

• Proficiency in Python and/or R

Culture @ Latch

How we work. Genuinely flexible schedules - we just ask that you communicate when you're coming in later than usual. We care most about hard work and output. We're respectfully opinionated, it will always be us against problems, not each other. Optimize for each other's time and bring solutions, not just problems. You'll join a bench suited to your expertise, but we value cross-domain learning and interoperability across teams.

The office & perks. Waterfront office near Oracle Park, 2x free daily meals, unlimited snacks, company outings most months, and team offsites. Plus a vibrant community: cycling, soccer, figure skating, boxing, run clubs, reading clubs, martial arts, music, game nights.

Compensation & Logistics

• 1099 (or W8-BEN) contract, 40 hrs/week, no end date

• Fully performance-based pay: $120K–$180K, uncapped upside. 2x quota = 2x pay.

• 2-4 week paid ramp - full OTE from day one

• Remote (globally), hybrid, or onsite in SF (onsite preferred)

• Work authorization: OPT visa holders only (not STEM Extension)

• Onsite perks: 2x free meals/day, waterfront office (China Basin), monthly parking (based on availability)

• Candidates with all of the above qualifications + proven management skills will be eligible for more senior positions

Interview Process

Timeline: We move fast: 8–12 days from submission to offer.

1. Intro Screen - Technical Recruiter

2. Take-Home Project - HackerRank

3. Technical Interview - Member of Technical Staff

4. Culture Interview - C-Suite (If applicable)

5. Offer