Senior Scientist, Ensemble–Function Mapping
Astera Institute
Summary
The Astera Institute is seeking a full-time Senior Scientist, Ensemble–Function Mapping to lead a computational team that turns conformational ensembles into predictions of protein function. This growing team will develop methods that connect ensembles to allosteric coupling, catalytic efficiency, and binding specificity, and build the platforms and pipelines that test which structural data matter most. The goal is a landmark finding that links ensembles to function. This position reports to the Scientific Program Director.
Job description
Position Summary
The Astera Institute is seeking a full-time Senior Scientist, Ensemble–Function Mapping to lead a computational team that turns conformational ensembles into predictions of protein function. This growing team will develop methods that connect ensembles to allosteric coupling, catalytic efficiency, and binding specificity, and build the platforms and pipelines that test which structural data matter most. The goal is a landmark finding that links ensembles to function. This position reports to the Scientific Program Director.
Responsibilities
- Lead Prism's research connecting conformational ensembles to function.
- Direct the scientific vision to predict and explain allosteric coupling, catalytic efficiency, and binding specificity, and drive that work toward high-impact findings.
- Manage and mentor a team of multiple scientists and recruit additional hires with expertise in machine learning and statistical mechanics.
- Work with the Scientific Program Director to determine strategy and prioritization of approaches, systems, and science within your team.
- Partner with Prism's modeling and encoding team, alongside the Scientific Program Director, to ensure cohesion across the project.
- Build platforms and analysis pipelines that measure how different types of structural data, and the ensemble models derived from them, change functional predictions. Validate them on well-chosen test cases.
Qualifications
- PhD in a relevant area; at least 4 years of work experience.
- Experience managing a team of scientists.
- Background in computational biophysics, with a record of research that connects protein structure or dynamics to function.
- Experience with machine learning approaches that link protein structure to function.
- Experience working extensively with at least one type of experimental structural data (X-ray, EM, NMR, HDX-MS).
- An execution-forward approach. You move from hypothesis to working analysis quickly and let results guide the next step.
- Clear communication with modelers, experimentalists, and external collaborators, including the ability to explain what a finding means and what it doesn't.
Nice to have
- Working knowledge of multiple experimental structural biology methods.
- Fluency in the mechanistic literature on allostery, conformational selection, and binding specificity.
Requirements
- PhD in a relevant area
- At least 4 years of work experience
- Experience managing a team of scientists
- Background in computational biophysics
- Record of research connecting protein structure or dynamics to function
- Experience with machine learning approaches linking protein structure to function
- Experience with at least one type of experimental structural data (X-ray, EM, NMR, HDX-MS)
- Execution-forward approach
- Clear communication with modelers, experimentalists, and external collaborators
Benefits
- Health insurance
- 403(b) retirement plans
- Flexible paid time off
- Paid parental leave
- Commuter benefits
- Health and dependent care FSAs
- Daily lunch
- AI tools and software licenses
- Visa sponsorship
Company overview
Astera Institute is a nonprofit research institute founded in 2020 by Jed McCaleb and Seemay Chou, dedicated to empowering visionary, high-leverage science and technology projects with transformative potential for human civilization. Operating as a 501(c)(3) private foundation based in Berkeley, California, Astera focuses on areas that lack natural homes in existing innovation ecosystems, particularly Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), neuroscience, life sciences, and climate technology. The institute operates through three main divisions: Neuro & AGI (directed neuroscience and AI research), Radial (life sciences research division), and the Foundation (centralized operational and financial support). With over $2.6 billion in assets and a commitment of up to $500 million over the next decade for its life sciences division, Astera employs a unique "build-test-learn" approach to scientific infrastructure and practices. The organization emphasizes experimentation with how science is conducted through actual research efforts, funding high-risk, neglected ideas that have outsized potential impact. Astera's mission is to steer science and technology toward an abundant future by supporting projects that traditional funding mechanisms often overlook, while also providing operational support, residency programs, and fellowship opportunities to advance scientific discovery and technological innovation.