Associate Scientist III, Cardiac Modeling

The Opportunity

insitro is a physical AI company dedicated to unlocking causal human biology and accelerating the delivery of better medicines to patients. Our unique Virtual Human™ platform identifies novel, high-impact genetic intervention points, which our TherML™ platform translates into therapeutics—whether small molecules, biologics, or oligos. With multiple programs in metabolic disease and neuroscience advancing toward the clinic, and our first IND submission slated for the second half of this year, we are at a pivotal inflection point.

We are seeking an Associate Scientist III to join our cardiac disease biology team. In this role, you will support the development and application of iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte (iPSC-CM) models to study the genetic and molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular disease — working at the intersection of human stem cell biology, cardiac physiology, and scalable experimental platforms to generate the datasets that fuel our ML-driven drug discovery efforts. You will design and execute experiments, optimize differentiation workflows, develop functional and scalable functional assays to connect cellular phenotypes to disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets.

Based in South San Francisco, this position reports directly to Senior Scientist, Cardiometabolic Disease - Translational Genetics and requires you to be onsite at our South San Francisco office 5 days per week.

Responsibilities

iPSC-CM Platform & Model Development

• Differentiation & QC: Support the generation and maintenance of iPSC lines and their differentiation into cardiomyocytes in 2D format (monolayers), implementing rigorous quality control points at each stage of the pipeline and with emphasis on production scalability
• Genetic Disease Models: Assist in building isogenic iPSC-CM disease models — including patient and CRISPR-edited lines carrying disease-associated variants — and characterizing the cellular model to study cardiovascular pathophysiology

Functional Assays & Disease Modeling

• Functional Readouts: Support the development and optimization of functional assays relevant to cardiovascular disease —contractility, electrophysiology, calcium handling, stress responses, high-content imaging — in formats compatible with high-throughput data acquisition
• Rigor & Reproducibility: Documentation including writing/reviewing technical procedures and SOPs, presentation of results in team meetings and maintaining laboratory notebook with scientific rigor

Cross-functional Partnership

• Target Identification: Contribute to target identification and validation efforts by connecting cellular phenotypes to human genetic evidence, aligning around the team and company goals to advance drug discovery

About You

Experience & Qualifications

• Qualifications and previous experience: A bachelor’s or master’s degree in biology, biochemistry, or related discipline with at least 2 years of relevant experience in the biotech/biopharma industry
• Cell culture and iPSC-CM Expertise: Deep hands-on experience in iPSC culture, cardiac directed differentiation and iPSC-CM model characterization in 2D (monolayer) format. Prior experience in 3D/engineered heart tissue platforms or organoids is a plus
• Genetic Disease Modeling: Previous experience developing genetic iPSC-CM disease models — patient-derived lines, CRISPR-edited isogenic pairs — to study cardiovascular mechanisms
• Cardiovascular Biology: Background in cardiomyocyte biology and/or cardiovascular disease is preferred
• Functional Assays: Experience with functional assays relevant to cardiomyocyte biology (contractility, calcium, electrophysiology, imaging, stress responses). Prior exposure and experience working with high-throughput platforms and/or automated systems is a plus
• Molecular Assays: Hands-on expertise in molecular assays, such as PCR, RT-qPCR, Western Blot and immunofluorescence
• Scientific Communication: Track record of executing rigorous experiments and communicating findings clearly in publications, presentations or internal reports

Core Competencies

• Cross-functional and Curious Collaborator: You are comfortable managing multiple tasks efficiently, communicating clearly and effectively, building open and collaborative relationships and are curious about implementing novel ML models into functional biology
• Independent & Adaptive: You thrive in a fast-paced environment working both independently and as part of a small, dedicated team while staying aligned with the team objectives
• Scientific Rigor and Attention to Detail: You excel at designing and executing experiments with the utmost scientific rigor, strong attention to detail and a positive and go-getter attitude towards unexpected results and challenges

Compensation & Benefits at insitro

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $107,000 - $114,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate's skills, education and experience, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and our Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

In addition, insitro also provides our employees:

• 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support
• Open, flexible vacation policy
• Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
• Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
• New hire stipend for home office setup
• Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
• Access to free onsite baristas and daily lunch for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
• Access to a free commuter bus network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area

insitro is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the foundation of our culture. We work hard to bring together diverse teams–grounded in a wide range of expertise and life experiences–and work even harder to ensure those teams thrive in inclusive, growth-oriented environments supported by equitable company and team practices. All candidates can expect equitable treatment, respect, and fairness throughout the interview process.

#LI-Hybrid

Please be aware of recruitment scams: we never request payments, all recruitment communications are from @insitro.com, and if in doubt, contact us at [email protected].

About insitro

insitro is a drug discovery and development company using machine learning (ML) and data at scale to decode biology for transformative medicines. At the core of insitro’s approach is the convergence of in-house generated multi-modal cellular data and high-content phenotypic human cohort data. We rely on these data to develop ML-driven, predictive disease models that uncover underlying biologic state and elucidate critical drivers of disease. These powerful models rely on extensive biological and computational infrastructure and allow insitro to advance novel targets and patient biomarkers, design therapeutics and inform clinical strategy. insitro is advancing a wholly owned and partnered pipeline of insights and therapeutics in neuroscience and metabolism. Since launching in 2018, insitro has raised over $700 million from top tech, biotech and crossover investors, and from collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. For more information on insitro, please visit www.insitro.com.