POSITION OVERVIEW:

As the Sr. Director/Vice President, Artificial Intelligence, you will lead the strategic development and enterprise-wide adoption of AI capabilities that support organizational transformation. Your role involves defining the AI vision, building a scalable roadmap, and driving execution across multiple business units. You will partner with Technology, Operations, Product, and executive leadership to identify high-value use cases, develop AI solutions, and integrate them into core business processes to deliver measurable results. This position requires a high level of autonomy, technical expertise, and strategic leadership, including assessing business needs, ensuring data readiness, designing and deploying models, overseeing MLOps practices, and implementing responsible AI principles. Your experience in AI, machine learning, data strategy, communication, stakeholder alignment, and solution delivery will be essential in enabling the organization’s transformation goals.

JOB FUNCTIONS:

(This list is not exhaustive and may be supplemented or changed as necessary.)

• Lead the strategic planning, development, and execution of the company’s AI roadmap and long-term innovation strategy.
• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize AI and machine learning opportunities that improve operations, automation, and business value.
• Apply structured methodologies to assess use case feasibility, technical readiness, adoption requirements, and expected ROI.
• Partner with Data Engineering and Technology teams to build and deploy scalable AI models, generative AI capabilities, and decision intelligence tools.
• Oversee all stages of the AI development lifecycle, including model design, testing, deployment, monitoring, retraining, and performance optimization.
• Develop and manage responsible AI frameworks that address transparency, risk, ethics, compliance, and governance.
• Conduct impact analyses and assess organizational readiness to adopt AI-driven processes and technologies.
• Create and deliver communication strategies to support AI adoption for leaders, teams, and stakeholders.
• Collaborate with business units to map workflows, redesign processes, and integrate AI-driven solutions into operations.
• Lead the design and implementation of training programs that support end-user adoption of AI tools.
• Build, develop, and mentor a high-performing AI organization across data science, machine learning, and applied AI disciplines.
• Partner with external technology providers, vendors, academic institutions, and research organizations to evaluate emerging AI technologies.
• Create metrics and dashboards to measure activation, performance, and business impact of AI solutions.
• Lead continuous improvement efforts through data analysis, root cause assessment, and iterative solution updates.
• Communicate complex technical concepts and model insights to executive leadership in clear, accessible language.
• Manage AI program budgets, resources, vendor contracts, and reporting requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field required.
  Advanced degree preferred.

Technical Experience:

• 12 to 15 or more years of experience in AI, machine learning, data science, or advanced analytics.
• Demonstrated experience building and deploying machine learning models and generative AI systems in production environments.
• Deep understanding of modern AI techniques including large language models, natural language processing, deep learning, predictive modeling, and reinforcement learning.
• Experience implementing MLOps pipelines, model governance, and scalable AI systems in cloud environments such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
• Experience leading organization-wide AI or data transformation initiatives.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams and external partners or vendors.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to define AI strategy, scope work, estimate effort, and drive execution.
• Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences and communicate with executives.
• Strong knowledge of AI ethics, responsible AI practices, and regulatory considerations.
• Ability to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and guide cross-functional efforts toward a shared vision.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data and model results.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in dynamic and fast-paced environments.
• Forward-thinking mindset with a focus on innovation and continuous learning.
• Strong presentation skills and experience delivering training or communication materials.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship now or in the future.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of the requirements that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use a computer keyboard and mouse; reach with hands and arms; talk and listen. The employee is frequently required to walk and sit, as well as to lift and carry objects such as books and files weighing up to 25 pounds. The employee is occasionally required to stand, stoop, or kneel. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job, including moderate noise level, an indoor temperate environment, and light levels that are bright and conducive to minimal eye strain, typical for an office environment.

TOTAL REWARDS PROGRAM:

We define total rewards as compensation, benefits, remote work/flexibility, development, recognition and our culture with programs that support each of our reward pillars. This includes a market competitive base salary and annual incentive plan, robust benefit offerings, and ongoing recognition and career development opportunities. Employees also enjoy our generous flexible paid time off program, company paid holidays, flexible working hours, and fully remote work options for most positions and the ability to work “almost anywhere”. However, if a physical work location is more for you, we have office locations in Greater Boston; San Diego, CA; Boulder, CO; and India.

LEGAL STATEMENT:
 
Syner-G is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers. All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee’s race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law. Syner-G is an E-Verify employer. 

Director, Formulation Sales – West Coast

Location: San Diego, CA (Debut’s Headquarters)

Reports To: Chief Commercial Officer

Type: Full-Time

Salary Range: USD $140,000–$175,000 per annum (base) + performance-based incentives, commensurate with experience

MAKE YOUR DEBUT

About Debut

Debut is a vertically integrated biotechnology company pioneering the next generation of high-performance cosmetic active ingredients. We combine AI-driven discovery with proprietary bioprocessing to develop the highest performing and clinically proven active ingredients that outperform conventionally sourced alternatives. From molecule to market, Debut controls the full value chain: ingredient discovery, formulation science, clinical validation, and scaled manufacturing delivering novel active ingredients to the global beauty industry faster and with better efficacy data than traditional suppliers.

Summary

Debut is seeking a commercially driven, highly connected Director of Formulation Sales to own and grow our West Coast formulation business. This is a hunter and closer role focused exclusively on selling custom-developed finished formulations to beauty brands, not an ingredient sales role. The right candidate has spent their career inside the beauty contract manufacturing ecosystem, knows how prestige and emerging brands buy, and understands how to move a formulation brief from first conversation to signed commercial agreement. The ideal candidate is deeply embedded in the West Coast beauty community, with active relationships across the LA, San Francisco, and Pacific Northwest markets. They will carry an established book of brand relationships, arrive ready to engage immediately, and be comfortable presenting to a VP of Product Development. Reporting directly to the Chief Commercial Officer, this person will serve as Debut’s primary commercial driver for West Coast formulation revenue.

Essential Functions

• Own and drive Debut’s West Coast formulation sales strategy, with full accountability for revenue achievement and expansion of the active customer base across prestige, masstige, and indie beauty segments in the West Coast market.
• Leverage an existing, active network of decision-maker relationships at major beauty brands with a concentration in West Coast-headquartered prestige, masstige and indie brands including VP-level and above contacts in product development, R&D, and procurement, to open doors, secure formulation briefs, and accelerate commercial cycles. Proactively identify, prioritize, and pursue new brand partnerships across skincare and color cosmetics to continuously expand Debut’s West Coast brand portfolio.
• Lead the full formulation sales cycle from initial brand engagement through briefing, proposal, sampling, pricing, and first production purchase order, coordinating closely with Debut’s R&D, Operations and formulation teams throughout. Awarded formulations are manufactured and filled by Debut’s CM partners, and this role is responsible for managing a smooth commercial handoff to ensure seamless execution.
• Develop deep understanding of each brand customer’s NPD roadmap, franchise architecture, launch/portfolio priorities and translate that intelligence into tailored product/formulation proposals that integrate Debut’s active ingredient platform.
• Represent Debut at US and international industry trade shows, brand summits, and brand innovation strategy sessions. Plan and execute brand-facing activations in coordination with the marketing and R&D teams ensuring Debut’s custom formulation capabilities are compellingly presented.
• Build and maintain a rigorous, accurate sales pipeline detailed in Debut’s CRM, providing the CCO with clear visibility into project status, revenue forecasts, and market intelligence on a regular cadence.
• Serve as a trusted commercial partner to brand customers throughout the product development lifecycle, managing the relationship from initial briefing through launch and beyond with the goal of securing repeat ongoing business. Translate market feedback including brand needs, competitive dynamics, and formulation trends into actionable insights that inform Debut’s formulation roadmap, and collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, operations, and the broader commercial team to ensure brand commitments are met.
• Operate with a high degree of autonomy and entrepreneurial urgency in a fast-moving, early-stage commercial environment, building a strong project pipeline while simultaneously closing business.

Education and Experience

The successful candidate will have a genuine passion for beauty and deep roots in the Prestige, Masstige and Indie beauty world. They are a product user, a relationship builder, and a closer.  Someone who understands how brands think and can credibly represent Debut’s formulation capabilities at every stage of the NPD process. They are organized, resilient, and motivated by winning. A bachelor’s degree is required; a background in cosmetic science, chemistry, or product development is a strong plus.

• 8+ years of experience in sales or in beauty product development within the contract manufacturing field or ingredient sales, with a meaningful portion of that time spent selling formulation or custom development services directly to beauty brands.
• Established, active network of decision-maker relationships at major beauty brands, with meaningful concentration in West Coast-headquartered companies across skincare and/or color cosmetics. Candidates must be able to demonstrate existing, active brand relationships, not historical contacts in their application materials.
• Customer-centric mindset with the ability to act as a true extension of a brand’s product development team. Strong interpersonal skills and a natural ability to build trust at every level of an organization.
• Demonstrated track record of meeting and exceeding revenue targets in a B2B formulation or contract manufacturing sales role, with experience managing complex sales cycles from prospecting through to contract execution.
• Strong technical fluency sufficient to engage credibly with brand R&D and product development teams on formulation performance, ingredient claims, and product development timelines without needing to be a chemist.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and negotiation skills, with the ability to craft and deliver compelling product narratives tailored to brand-specific business priorities. Assertive and confident in closing.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as business needs require, including attendance at Debut’s innovation shows or key industry trade shows.
• Proficiency with CRM platforms (Monday, Salesforce or equivalent) and demonstrated discipline in pipeline management and forecasting. Accountable, KPI-focused, and goal-oriented.
• Experience working in or alongside an early-stage, high-growth company is a plus. Comfort operating in an environment where structure is still being built is essential. Self-motivated, proactive, and able to manage multiple priorities against tight timelines.

Essential Physical Characteristics

The physical characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of a job, on a case-by-case basis.

• Frequent sitting, standing, and walking during customer meetings, trade shows, and extended travel.
• Repetitive use of hands to operate computers, mobile devices, and presentation equipment.
• Ability to carry and transport sales materials and samples weighing up to 30 pounds.
• Frequent domestic and international air travel.
• Ability to navigate diverse physical environments including manufacturing facilities, trade show floors, and customer offices.

Condition of Employment

As part of Debut’s pre-employment process, prospective candidates will undergo a background check prior to beginning employment. Additional types of background investigations may be conducted based on the job-related activities of the position.

Debut is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language, disability, or mental health conditions. Employment decisions at Debut are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.

What You Will Contribute To Altos

As part of our team, you will help to accelerate and optimize our progress in developing unified, multi-modal generative foundation models for multiscale biology. You will be an integral part of our multidisciplinary teams building the computational platforms that will enable Altos to achieve its mission.

In this role, you will partner and collaborate with other multidisciplinary Scientists and Engineers across the Institute of Computation to design, build, and scale state-of-the-art foundation models that tackle biological questions and aid in the discovery of novel interventions for aging and disease. You will focus on the synthesis of unstructured multimodal signals with the structured relational data and knowledge graphs that represent biological reality.

The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment that stresses teamwork, transparency, scientific excellence, originality, and integrity.

Responsibilities

As a Staff Machine Learning Scientist, you will use your experience to focus on designing, developing, and evaluating state-of-the-art foundation models, at scale, to benefit the research.

• Pre-train and fine-tune large-scale machine learning systems using multimodal biological data, natural language, and structured relational inputs.   
• Architect and implement novel hybrid models that integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) with Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for multi-hop reasoning over biological knowledge graphs .
• Develop Relational Foundation Models (RFMs) that enable zero-shot predictive tasks over heterogeneous, multi-table biological datasets.   
• Lead the design of efficient data loading strategies and distributed training recipes (e.g., FSDP, DeepSpeed) to train models across multiple GPU nodes.   
• Gain insights into model performance based on theory, deep research, and the mathematical underpinnings of set-invariant and graph-structured architectures .
• Apply strong coding experience to model development and deployment, ensuring research prototypes transition into reliable, scalable production systems.
• Stay up-to-date on the latest developments in deep learning—including native early-fusion and Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architectures—and apply this knowledge to Altos' research .
• Mentor junior staff while maintaining a high individual technical contribution to the core research ecosystem and peer-reviewed publications.

Who You Are  

We are looking for someone who is:

• Excited about the Altos mission of restoring cell health and resilience to reverse disease, injury, and age-related disabilities.
• Highly collaborative in mindset and ways of working across research and engineering boundaries.
• Self-motivated to drive and deliver on long-term technical projects and scientific goals.
• Demonstrates the desire to grow professionally and expand their skillset in biology, machine learning, and/or drug development.
• Able to communicate and explain the design, results, and impact of complex AI architectures to both scientific and non-scientific staff.
• Keen to contribute to seminars and scientific initiatives within Altos and the broader AI research community.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a similar quantitative field with 5+ years of relevant work experience in academic or industry settings.
• Prior experience in developing and implementing novel generative AI models, specifically in multimodal integration, GraphRAG, or relational deep learning .
• Deep understanding of Machine Learning principles and how they apply to diverse architectures like Transformers, GNNs, and diffusion models .
• Very strong programming skills in Python and deep learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch, JAX, Hugging Face Transformers/Accelerate).   
• Proven experience with multi-GPU and distributed training at scale (e.g., DDP, FSDP, DeepSpeed, Megatron, or Ray).   
• Strong track record of published, peer-reviewed innovative AI/ML research at top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR).

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with tabular foundation models (e.g., TabPFN) and in-context learning strategies for structured data .
• Specific experience in native multimodal modeling (early-fusion) or the synthesis of LLMs and Knowledge Graphs .
• Track record of ML applied to biological data, such as NGS data (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq), biological imaging (microscopy, IF), or spatial transcriptomics.
• Experience in optimizing large-scale inference via quantization, distillation, or memory-efficient attention mechanisms.

The salary range for Redwood City, CA:

• Scientist I, Machine Learning: $200,900 - $257,500
• Scientist II, Machine Learning: $226,200 - $290,000
• Senior Scientist I, Machine Learning: $257,400 - $330,000

The salary range for San Diego, CA:

• Scientist I, Machine Learning: $179,400 - $230,000
• Scientist II, Machine Learning: $212,900 - $273,000
• Senior Scientist I, Machine Learning: $239,500 - $307,000

Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.

#LI-NN1

For UK applicants, before submitting your application:

- Please click here to read the Altos Labs EU and UK Applicant Privacy Notice (bit.ly/eu_uk_privacy_notice)
- This Privacy Notice is not a contract, express or implied and it does not set terms or conditions of employment.

What You Will Contribute To Altos

As part of our team, you will help to accelerate and optimize our progress in developing multi-modal generative foundation models for multiscale biology. We are open to hiring either a Machine Learning Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer.

In either role, you will be an integral part of our multidisciplinary teams building the computational platforms that will enable Altos to achieve its mission. You will partner and collaborate with other Machine Learning Scientists and Engineers across the Institute of Computation to contribute to the Altos research and translation ecosystem. Focussing on designing and building state-of-the-art multimodal foundation models that tackle biological questions and aid in the discovery of novel interventions for aging and disease. 

The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment that stresses teamwork, transparency, scientific excellence, originality, and integrity. 

Responsibilities

Machine Learning Engineer

• As a Machine Learning Engineer you will focus on building, deploying and optimizing machine learning models at scale. 
• Pre-train and fine-tune large-scale machine learning systems using multimodal biological data and natural language inputs.
• Develop efficient data loading strategy and performance tracking to train large models with distributed training across multiple nodes 
• Ability to apply software engineering skills to develop reliable, scalable, performant distributed systems in a cloud environment.

Machine Learning Scientist

• The ideal candidate will be able to use their experience to focus on designing, developing and evaluating state of the art foundation models, at scale, to benefit the research.
• Pre-train and fine-tune large-scale machine learning systems using multimodal biological data and natural language inputs.
• You will be able to gain insights, based on theory, deep research and the mathematical underpinnings of your work.
• Be experienced in using AI as a tool to accelerate your research.
• Can apply strong coding experience to model development using existing languages(s) and framework(s)

Who You Are

We are looking for someone who is :

• Excited about the Altos mission of restoring cell health and resilience to reverse disease, injury, and age-related disabilities and how they can contribute
• Highly collaborative in mindset and ways of working
• Self-motivated to drive and deliver on projects and goals
• Demonstrates the desire to grow professionally and expand their skillset and knowledge;  is keen to learn more about biology, computational science, and drug development.
• Ability to communicate and explain the design, results, conclusions and the impact of their work to both scientific and nonscientific staff.
• Is able to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in deep learning and apply knowledge to their work.
• Keen to take the opportunity to contribute to seminars and other scientific initiatives within Altos and the broader scientific community.

Minimum Qualifications

Machine Learning Engineer

• MS in Computer Science, Statistics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related discipline
• 0-5 years of relevant work experience in either an academic or industry setting
• Very strong programming skills, including experience with Python and deep learning libraries (PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, H-F Datasets, H-F Accelerate)
• Ideally, experience in a distributed training framework, like DDP, FSDP, Deepspeed, Megatron, or HuggingFace Accelerate, Ray.
• Expertise in a subset of the following: transformers, natural language processing, multi-modality in language and/or in biology, diffusion models.

Machine Learning Scientist

• PhD in Computer Science / Machine Learning or similar fields 
• 0-5 years of relevant work experience in either an academic or industry setting.
• Prior experience in developing and implementing novel generative AI models in a subset of the following: transformers, multi-modality, diffusion models.
• Can demonstrate a deep understanding and expertise of Machine Learning Principles and how they apply to different models  
• Very strong programming skills, including experience with Python and deep learning libraries (PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, H-F Datasets, H-F Accelerate)
• Strong track record of published peer reviewed innovative AI/ML research 
• Experience writing production-quality code with modern machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or similar;
• Experience with multi-GPU and distributed training at scale;

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with multimodal data integration, including early and/or late fusion strategies.
• Track record of ML applied to NGS data (e.g.RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, DNA methylation), biological imaging modalities (e.g. microscopy, H&E, IF), and/or spatial transcriptomics.

The salary range for Machine Learning Engineer position in San Diego

• Machine Learning Engineer I: $140,000 - $179,500
• Machine Learning Engineer II: $158,300 - $203,000

The salary range for Machine Learning Engineer position in Redwood City

• Machine Learning Engineer I: $152,600 - $195,600
• Machine Learning Engineer II: $174,200 - $223,300

The salary range for Machine Learning Scientist position in San Diego

• Scientist I, Machine Learning: $179,400 - $230,000
• Scientist II, Machine Learning: $212,900 - $273,000

The salary range for Machine Learning Scientist  position in Redwood City

• Scientist I, Machine Learning: $200,900 - $257,500
• Scientist II, Machine Learning: $226,200 - $290,000

Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.

For UK applicants, before submitting your application:

- Please click here to read the Altos Labs EU and UK Applicant Privacy Notice (bit.ly/eu_uk_privacy_notice)
- This Privacy Notice is not a contract, express or implied and it does not set terms or conditions of employment.

#LI-NN1