About xAI
xAI’s mission is to create AI systems that can accurately understand the universe and aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. Our team is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This organization is for individuals who appreciate challenging themselves and thrive on curiosity. We operate with a flat organizational structure. All employees are expected to be hands-on and to contribute directly to the company’s mission. Leadership is given to those who show initiative and consistently deliver excellence. Work ethic and strong prioritization skills are important. All engineers are expected to have strong communication skills. They should be able to concisely and accurately share knowledge with their teammates.
About the Role
As a Biology Specialist at xAI, you will be instrumental in enhancing our cutting-edge AI technologies by providing high-quality input and labels using specialized software. You will collaborate closely with our technical team to support the training of new AI tasks, contributing to innovative initiatives. Your responsibilities include refining annotation tools and selecting complex problems from advanced biological fields to drive significant improvements in model performance. This involves gathering or providing data in text, voice, and video formats, including annotations, audio recordings, or video sessions—tasks with which you must be comfortable and eager to engage.
This position demands a dynamic approach to learning and adapting in a fast-paced environment, where your ability to interpret and execute tasks based on evolving instructions is crucial.
The Biology Specialist role is a remote full-time position and there are full-time and part-time positions available (please see the bottom of this job description for more details).
Responsibilities
- Use proprietary software applications to provide input/labels on defined projects.
- Support and ensure the delivery of high-quality curated data.
- Play a pivotal role in supporting and contributing to the training of new tasks, working closely with the technical staff to ensure the successful development and implementation of cutting-edge initiatives/technologies.
- Interact with the technical staff to help improve the design of efficient annotation tools.
- Solve problems that help drive innovation in life sciences by guiding AI models to enhance research in specialized areas, improving outcomes in scientific discovery and application.
- Choose problems from fields across biology, biotechnology and life sciences that align with your expertise in specialized subdomains such as genomic analysis, evolutionary biology, or drug discovery, where you can confidently provide detailed solutions and evaluate model responses.
- Regularly interpret, analyze, and execute tasks based on given instructions.
Required Qualifications
- Master’s or PhD in a biology-related field.
- Expertise in one or more of the following: Genetics, Genomics, Developmental Biology, Systems Biology, Physiology and Anatomy, Evolution, Microbiology, Plant Biology, Zoology and Animal Biology, Marine Biology and Oceanography, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Public Health, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Drug Discovery.
- Proficiency in reading and writing, both in informal and professional English.
- Strong ability to navigate various information resources, databases, and online resources is essential.
- Outstanding communication, interpersonal, analytical, and organizational capabilities.
- Solid reading comprehension skills combined with the capacity to exercise autonomous judgment even when presented with limited data/material.
- Strong passion for and commitment to technological advancements and innovation.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced expertise in biology, demonstrated by multiple publications, including at least one first-author paper, in reputable peer-reviewed journals
- Previous AI Tutoring experience.
- Teaching experience (as a professor, teacher, or tutor).
- Experience in technical writing, journalism, or a professional writing setting.
Location, Hourly, and Other Expectations
- This position is based in Palo Alto, CA, or fully remote.
- The Palo Alto option is an in-office role requiring 5 days per week; remote positions require strong self-motivation.
- If you are based in the US, please note we are unable to hire in the states of Wyoming and Illinois at this time.
- We are unable to provide visa sponsorship.
- Team members are expected to work from 9:00am - 5:30pm PST for the first two weeks of training and 9:00am - 5:30pm in their own timezone thereafter.
- For those who will be working from a personal device, please note your computer must be a Chromebook, Mac with MacOS 11.0 or later, or Windows 10 or later.
Compensation
$45/hour - $75/hour
The posted pay range is intended for U.S.-based candidates and depends on factors including relevant experience, skills, education, geographic location, and qualifications. For international candidates, our recruiting team can provide an estimated pay range for your location.
Benefits:
Hourly pay is just one part of our total rewards package at xAI. Specific benefits vary by country, depending on your country of residence you may have access to medical benefits. We do not offer benefits for part-time roles.
xAI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
