Founding Scientist / Co-Founder

<h3>About the Role</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">This is a rare opportunity to join as a <strong>Founding Scientist / Co-Founder</strong> at an early-stage startup at the intersection of AI and wet-lab biology, operating within the <strong>aerospace and defense</strong> sector. You will combine hands-on biological expertise with computational thinking to shape the company's scientific strategy and core technology — bridging laboratory work with AI-driven workflows to accelerate discovery.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">This role is on-site in <strong>Germany</strong>. Candidates must be eligible to work in Germany without visa sponsorship.</p><h3>What You'll Do</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Define and lead the scientific vision and research roadmap for early-stage AI + wet-lab products.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Design and execute key experiments in molecular biology, biochemistry, or genomics to validate models and assays.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Collaborate closely with engineers and ML researchers to translate experimental needs into computational requirements.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Implement and oversee lab automation and data pipelines to scale experiments and improve reproducibility.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Prototype computational tools and analyses; contribute code or notebooks integrating wet-lab data with models.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Mentor and recruit early scientific hires; establish laboratory best practices and safety standards.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Help navigate sector-specific constraints unique to aerospace and defense applications.</p></li></ul><h3>What We're Looking For</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Required:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">PhD in Biotechnology, Genomics, Biology, or a closely related field.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Senior-level research experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, genomics, biotech, or equivalent industry background.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Demonstrated experience applying AI/ML to biological data (computational biology, bioinformatics, or similar).</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience in or familiarity with aerospace or defense domains, including an understanding of sector-specific constraints.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Comfortable with computational thinking and coding; experience with ML is a strong plus.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Must be eligible to work in Germany without visa sponsorship.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Nice to Have:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Prior experience at AI-for-biology companies, biotech startups, or similar industry environments.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Hands-on lab automation experience.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Prior founder experience or direct experience scaling early-stage teams and operations.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort navigating ambiguity in a fast-moving startup environment.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Ideal Background:</strong> Research or training at a leading institution or university, with a track record that combines rigorous wet-lab science and computational fluency. Candidates with backgrounds at defense-adjacent biotech firms or aerospace technology companies are particularly well-suited.</p><h3>What You'll Be Building</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">You will work at the frontier of <strong>AI-accelerated biology</strong>, helping to build systems that tightly integrate machine learning models with experimental wet-lab workflows. The team values intellectual curiosity, a bias toward action, and the ability to move fluidly between the bench and the codebase.</p><h3>Location &amp; Work Arrangement</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Location:</strong> Germany (on-site)</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Remote:</strong> Not available for this role</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Visa Sponsorship:</strong> Not available — candidates must have existing eligibility to work in Germany</p></li></ul><p>Find more <a href="https://www.arbeitnow.com/english-speaking-jobs">English Speaking Jobs in Germany</a> on Arbeitnow</a>