ALLOX is a spin-off of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and draws on the expertise and technology developed in the lab of Ben Lehner. The company was born out of the realisation that combining systematic mutagenesis, high-throughput phenotyping and biophysical modelling has the potential to revolutionise drug development but also transform biotechnology in general. In February 2025 we relocated to a new incubation space in the Barcelona Science Park (surrounded by 6 research institutes and over 70 different companies), and our immediate goal is to identify allosteric switches in all proteins and then leverage this unprecedented resource to rapidly develop novel medicines to treat human diseases. Our long-term vision is to become a leader in programmable biology, building the next generation of tools to predict, design and engineer new protein functions. We believe in a future where humanity will be able to harness the power of biology to solve our most pressing issues. We are expanding our interdisciplinary team with highly motivated individuals who are excited by this bold vision, share our sense of urgency, but are not willing to compromise on integrity. At ALLOX the success of our revolutionary scientific approach is as important to us as our mission to create a healthy, honest and respectful culture, both internally and with our partners.

For additional information, please visit: https://www.allox.bio/

Why This Role Exists: Closing the data gap in AI drug discovery

Drug discovery is being transformed with AI chemistry, co-folding methods and fragment-based approaches now holding the promise of generating binders against virtually any pocket or surface. But a binder is not a drug and that is why we’re using functional data to close that gap. ALLOX systematically validates functional hotspots at scale, generating functional maps that prioritise binders with a high probability of functional impact. The result is a measurably higher hit rate: molecules with confirmed functional activity, not just predicted affinity. We sit at the convergence of AI and biology, uniquely bridging novel binder discovery and functional molecules. ALLOX has generated approximately 10X more functional protein data than currently exists in the scientific literature – hundreds of thousands of biophysical measurements from our hybrid experimental/computational hotspot mapping platform. In three years we will have generated another 10X more. These maps are being used to initiate our drug discovery pipeline and represent an unprecedented resource for training AI models to predict functional hotspots in silico.

ALLOX is seeking a creative and ambitious computational scientist or ML engineer with experience developing deep learning models of protein function. You care deeply about the biology, not just the engineering. You are energised by working at the frontier, rapidly assessing new methods, knowing their limitations as well as their potential, and translating research into production-grade tools that drive real scientific decisions.

You will be ALLOX's first dedicated AI hire, with the mandate to define the AI strategy, own the infrastructure decisions, and build a team of AI engineers and scientists around you. We see the integration of AI across the company – experimental workflows, target prioritisation, computational drug discovery – as central to our success.

You will be an integral part of a multidisciplinary team working at the intersection of Deep Mutational Scanning (DMS), structural bioinformatics, and drug discovery. This role has equal parts research and applied components, with genuine opportunities to publish high-impact results in peer-reviewed journals and to shape the company's scientific direction from an early stage.

This role is both a scientific and a leadership opportunity. You will be helping to build AI capabilities that drive key decisions across the company: prioritising targets for experimental validation, massively expanding the addressable target space, and predicting the functional effects of ligand binding. The initial goal is clear (in silico prediction of functional hotspots), but the roadmap extends across the full breadth of our platform.

To determine salary range, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate’s skills, education and experience, the level at which they are actually hired, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

For the Senior AI Scientist, we offer a yearly base salary between €75,000 and €85,000, plus an Annual Performance Bonus plan based on individual and company goals and performance. This role is eligible for our meaningful early-stage equity package (subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies).

Beyond the numbers, here's what working at ALLOX looks like:

• 25 days paid annual leave + Spanish public holidays + 3 extra days for personal matters 
• Flexible hybrid working: up to 40% from home with an office at the Barcelona Science Park at the heart of the city's scientific community
• Yearly personal training & conference budget
• Reduced Friday schedule, year-round 
• An extra day off on your birthday
• If you're sick, focus on getting better: no doctor's note needed for the first two days
• Regular team offsites, monthly lunches and a well-stocked snack cabinet

And all the classic Spanish benefits: public healthcare, paid sick leave, 19 weeks paid birth and childcare leave.

Joining ALLOX at this stage means more than a job, it means co-authoring the AI strategy of a company at the frontier of functional biology and drug discovery. As one of our earliest technical hires, you will have direct influence over what we build, how we build it, and who we build it with.

Apply for this job here. The interview process includes a take-home assignment to assess your practical skills.

The closing date for applications is June 30th, 2026. We encourage applicants to submit their application at the earliest opportunity as the closing date may be brought forward if a high volume of applications are received.

* Questions about the role? Reach out to personnel@allox.bio

* Please note jobs may be taken down from our website, this does not mean they have been filled. This is to maintain our candidate experience for current applicants. If you are in the interview process and would like to request a copy of the job description, reach out to personnel@allox.bio