AI Biologist - Metagenomics

About the role

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 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.
• 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.

• Intro Screen - Technical Recruiter
• Take-Home Project - HackerRank
• Technical Interview - Member of Technical Staff
• Culture Interview - C-Suite
• Offer