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AI Research Engineer

Chai Discovery
Posted onFeb 23, 2026
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States (On-site)
Employment typeFull-time

About Chai Discovery

Chai Discovery builds frontier AI models to design molecules and transform how new cures are found. We are a craft-obsessed team setting out to re-architect drug discovery and save lives.

The Chai founding team brought together leading researchers in this space and top silicon valley operators. Our founders led seminal accomplishments at top AI-for-biology programs and labs, co-invented protein language modelling, built state-of-the-art folding algorithms, and sold AI adopted by top-10 pharma companies. We are backed by top-tier investors, including OpenAI, Thrive Capital, Dimension, Conviction, Lachy Groom, Amplify, and many more.

About the role

We are seeking an AI Research Engineer to help design, train, evaluate, and optimize Chai’s core models and infrastructure, working in tight loops with research scientists. Chai's models are moving beyond protein structure prediction into real-world therapeutic engineering. This is a chance to push the frontier of AI drug design, working alongside a craft-obsessed team of micro-pessimists and macro-optimists.

  • Develop and optimize all the infrastructure & tooling upon which our AI research depends.

  • Collaborate with AI researchers to understand, implement and optimize new research directions.

  • Integrate AI models into production systems, ensuring scalability and reliability.

About you

Ideal backgrounds include high-performance computing, custom CUDA kernels and GPU programming, AI/ML + data systems at scale.

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.

  • Strong proficiency in programming languages such as Python and deep learning frameworks like PyTorch.

  • Deep understanding of operating system internals.

  • Experience with HPC infrastructure such as Slurm and Kubernetes.

  • Experience with performance engineering and profiling for CPU and CPU workloads.

  • Experience writing, building, and maintaining large-scale ETL pipelines.

We offer

  • Frontier technology: work on the technologies that promises to fundamentally change how new therapeutics are created.

  • World-class people: work with world-renowned leaders in the AI x Biology ecosystem.

  • Velocity and ownership:we move incredibly fast and liberally distribute ownership, which means continuous learning and career growth opportunities are guaranteed.

  • Strong culture and mission:we foster a supportive culture that is mission-driven and high-energy.

  • Highly competitive compensation: we attract the best talent and compensate them accordingly.

Chai Discovery

View company profile

Chai Discovery builds frontier AI foundation models to predict and reprogram biochemical molecular interactions, transforming drug discovery from a slow, trial-and-error process into an engineering discipline capable of designing medicines against previously undruggable targets.

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