About Valence Labs

Valence Labs is an AI research and productization engine within Recursion dedicated to industrializing scientific discovery to radically improve lives. Combining the intellectual freedom of academia with the resources and stability of industry, our focus is the development of highly-autonomous systems that will spearhead a fundamental shift in the way treatments are discovered and developed for complex disease. Our research is driven by optimism, purpose, and a shared vision for a healthier tomorrow. We publish in top journals and conferences, are deeply committed to open-science and open-source, and maintain some of the largest and most active research communities in our industry. Our team is located in London and Montreal, where we share close connections with Mila, the world’s largest deep learning research institute.

About the role

We’re seeking an experienced Research Scientist to pursue bold and high-risk research endeavors supporting our mission of industrializing scientific discovery to radically improve lives. We're looking for individuals who possess the ability to own, pursue, and clearly communicate a research agenda, including carrying out long-running projects independently or in a team.  This multifaceted role combines the need for a deep understanding of state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms, exceptional problem-solving and engineering skills, and experience in the computational life sciences. In this role, you will:

  • Join one of Valence Labs' Research Units, driving ambitious frontier research within the domain of ML for drug discovery.
  • Lead new research projects at the intersection of NLP, Generative AI, LLMs and drug discovery, leveraging your extensive expertise to devise, evaluate, and help deploy innovative and field-leading ML solutions.
  • Collaborate with researchers and engineers both internally and externally to identify unique challenges and opportunities for ML in drug discovery.
  • Work in a highly supportive, interdisciplinary environment, providing the intellectual freedom of academia with the resources and stability of industry.
  • Present and communicate research findings through talks, blog posts, publications, and conferences.

A successful candidate will have most of the following:

  • PhD with significant academic and industry research experience in a related technical field involving generative AI (inclusive of LLM) technologies.
  • A proven track record of impactful machine learning research, including designing new models to advance the field of Generative AI and the development of novel algorithms to improve the speed and efficiency of generative AI systems, particularly in the fields of life sciences or drug discovery.
  • Strong technical and engineering skills, including the ability to rapidly prototype ML solutions.
  • Comfort working cross-functionally with interdisciplinary teams of dry and wet scientists.
  • Experience in project supervision, leadership, or management, including 1) lead authorship in publications at peer-reviewed conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or similar) and/or journals, 2) acting as a scientific advisor in productizing LLM systems.

Nice to have:

  • Scientific knowledge of biology, chemistry, or physics, along with previous experience working in a scientific environment across disciplines.

Valence Labs is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment, where understanding and accommodating personal needs and preferences is a priority. Join our multidisciplinary team of passionate researchers, eager to push the boundaries of ML research and contribute to industrializing scientific discovery to radically improve lives.

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Equal Opportunity Employment Information (Completion is Voluntary)

Recursion is a proud equal opportunity employer. 

We have a fundamental belief that we can only achieve our mission if we truly commit to diversity, equity and inclusion. We believe diversity makes us stronger, and it's our responsibility to build an equitable and inclusive workplace where our diverse talent thrives.  To this end, we invite you to self-identify your race/ethnicity and gender. This information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with the hiring managers or otherwise considered as part of your application. Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide any or all of the information requested will not subject you to any adverse treatment.  If you are willing, please let us know if you identify as belonging to any of the following groups:

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