About Invaio Sciences

Invaio Sciences, founded by Flagship Pioneering, is a bio platform company accelerating the leap to nature-positive agriculture. The company builds on advances in human health and digital innovation to develop biological technologies for crop health, enabling farmers to both improve yields and use more natural crop health solutions.

About the role

We are seeking a visionary and accomplished Senior Director, Head of Machine Learning to head our ML & Computational Biology team. This individual will shape and drive the strategic direction of protein and peptide design projects across our biological pipeline. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in protein engineering and machine learning to solve complex biological problems and will have a track record of using cutting edge tools, from deep learning to generative models and protein language models. Reporting to the Head of Digital & Computational Sciences, you will lead and expand a high-impact team of computational biologists and ML scientists. Your work will power our design engine for programmable actives, enabling the transformation towards nature-positive agriculture. The ideal candidate will be based in Cambridge, MA or near our RTP, NC office. This role could be remote for the right candidate.

What you'll do

Leadership and Strategy

• Develop and implement the long-term vision for computational and AI-driven biological design
• Build, mentor, and lead a cross-functional team of scientists across AI/ML, bioinformatics, and structural biology
• Drive a culture of scientific innovation, rigor, and fast learning aligned with the pace of a fast-moving startup

Science & Technology

• Oversee the design and optimization of novel proteins and peptides using state-of-the-art ML, including protein language models and multimodal representational learning approaches
• Guide the development of generative and predictive models for function, activity, and developability
• Ensure effective integration of computational predictions with wet-lab workflows to accelerate the design-build-test-learn cycle
• Contribute to the development and protection of a differentiated Biodesign IP portfolio
• Stay informed on the latest advancements in protein/peptide engineering, peptide synthesis and microbial production, and related fields 

Collaboration and Communication

• Partner closely with cross-functional teams, including bioprocess development, formulation, analytical science, field development, and regulatory
• Translate model insights into actionable design hypotheses and downstream validation
• Communicate project progress, roadmap, and long-term strategy to senior management and stakeholders
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external SAB members to guide scientific priorities and platform strategy
• Represent the company at scientific conferences, partner meetings, and investor discussions

Program Execution

• Oversee timelines and execution across multiple computational discovery programs
• Prioritize technical projects in alignment with product goals and R&D milestones
• Proactively manage risks, resource needs, and hiring plans to ensure platform scalability

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent research experience in Computational Biology, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Bioengineering, or a related computational field
• 10+ years of experience translating complex domains into machine learning formalisms; 5+ years in leadership roles
• Deep expertise in protein and peptide design, particularly using modern ML/AI tools
• Expert-level hands-on understanding of ML architectures and modern MLOps practices
• Hands-on experience with scalable computing environments (AWS preferred)
• Strong software engineering skills, with experience in Python and best practices for building maintainable code
• Experience building and managing cross-functional teams in a biotech setting
• Excellent communication, project management, and leadership skills

What's next

Invaio is an equal employment opportunity employer and is committed to a proactive program of diversity development. Invaio will continue to recruit, hire, train, and promote into all job levels without regard to race, religion, gender, marital status, familial status, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, or veteran status.