What are the responsibilities and job description for the Head of CryoEM, Executive Director position at Generate:Biomedicines?
About Generate:Biomedicines
Generate:Biomedicines is a new kind of therapeutics company – existing at the intersection of machine learning, biological engineering, and medicine – pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines where novel therapeutics are computationally generated, instead of being discovered. The Company has built a machine learning-powered biomedicines platform with the potential to generate new drugs across a wide range of biologic modalities. This platform represents a potentially fundamental shift in what is possible in the field of biotherapeutic development.
We pursue this audacious vision because we believe in the unique and revolutionary power of generative biology to radically transform the lives of billions, with an outsized opportunity for patients in need. We are seeking collaborative, relentless problem solvers that share our passion for impact to join us!
Generate:Biomedicines was founded in 2018 by Flagship Pioneering and has received nearly $700 millionin funding, providing the resources to rapidly scale the organization. The Company has offices in Somerville and Andover, Massachusetts with 300 employees.
The Role:
We are seeking a visionary, execution-driven leader to head Generate’s CryoEM group—a multidisciplinary team operating one of the most advanced high-throughput structural biology platforms in the world. This role reports directly to the CTO and sits at the heart of our mission to transform biology into a programmable discipline.
Our CryoEM facility wasn’t built to follow the field. It was built to change the rules, turning cryo-electron microscopy from a scientific bottleneck into a scalable engine for structure generation and foundational insight. At unprecedented speed and scale, this platform is essential to powering Generate’s ML platform and accelerating drug generation across modalities.
As the head of this capability, you will guide both vision and execution—continually expanding what’s possible in structural throughput and data quality. You will partner closely with machine learning, protein science, and automation teams to embed CryoEM into a tight design–build–test–learn loop, fueling our vision of programmable medicine.
This is a rare opportunity to set the pace of progress in both technology and biology, and to help shape the structural biology stack of the future.
Here's how you will contribute:
Leadership & Strategy
You are energized by the opportunity to shape a next-generation cryo-EM organization in service of scientific innovation and therapeutic impact. You thrive at the interface of technology and biology, and you bring a balance of strategic vision and hands-on leadership. You operate with transparency, empathy, and purpose—setting a high bar for scientific and cultural excellence.
Generate:Biomedicines is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Recruitment & Staffing Agencies : Generate:Biomedicines does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Generate:Biomedicines or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Company’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Generate:Biomedicines and the Company will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.
Generate:Biomedicines is a new kind of therapeutics company – existing at the intersection of machine learning, biological engineering, and medicine – pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines where novel therapeutics are computationally generated, instead of being discovered. The Company has built a machine learning-powered biomedicines platform with the potential to generate new drugs across a wide range of biologic modalities. This platform represents a potentially fundamental shift in what is possible in the field of biotherapeutic development.
We pursue this audacious vision because we believe in the unique and revolutionary power of generative biology to radically transform the lives of billions, with an outsized opportunity for patients in need. We are seeking collaborative, relentless problem solvers that share our passion for impact to join us!
Generate:Biomedicines was founded in 2018 by Flagship Pioneering and has received nearly $700 millionin funding, providing the resources to rapidly scale the organization. The Company has offices in Somerville and Andover, Massachusetts with 300 employees.
The Role:
We are seeking a visionary, execution-driven leader to head Generate’s CryoEM group—a multidisciplinary team operating one of the most advanced high-throughput structural biology platforms in the world. This role reports directly to the CTO and sits at the heart of our mission to transform biology into a programmable discipline.
Our CryoEM facility wasn’t built to follow the field. It was built to change the rules, turning cryo-electron microscopy from a scientific bottleneck into a scalable engine for structure generation and foundational insight. At unprecedented speed and scale, this platform is essential to powering Generate’s ML platform and accelerating drug generation across modalities.
As the head of this capability, you will guide both vision and execution—continually expanding what’s possible in structural throughput and data quality. You will partner closely with machine learning, protein science, and automation teams to embed CryoEM into a tight design–build–test–learn loop, fueling our vision of programmable medicine.
This is a rare opportunity to set the pace of progress in both technology and biology, and to help shape the structural biology stack of the future.
Here's how you will contribute:
Leadership & Strategy
- Lead a world-class team of cryo-EM scientists and engineers.
- Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for a high-throughput cryo-EM facility in close collaboration with Generate’s Machine Learning, Protein Science, and Informatics teams, aligned with Generate’s scientific priorities and platform vision.
- Serve as a cross-functional integrator across wet-lab operations, computational technology development, and platform engineering.
- Serve as a key thought partner to senior leadership on infrastructure investments and innovation, capability development, and talent strategy.
- Identify, establish, and manage external collaborations and partnerships to expand and enhance internal capabilities.
- Oversee the full experimental cryo-EM pipeline, including construct design, sample preparation, image acquisition, data collection, reconstruction and 3D structure resolution.
- Champion innovation by implementing creative strategies to boost speed, data quality, and overall pipeline efficiency.
- Drive continuous improvement across key metrics such as throughput, microscope uptime, success rates, and quality metrics.
- Guide development of custom algorithms, workflows, and experimental technologies, in collaboration with internal ML, software, and experimental/engineering teams.
- Ensure that cryo-EM workflows and data outputs meet quality standards suitable for regulatory submission and downstream therapeutic development.
- Manage and mentor a multidisciplinary team, fostering a culture of curiosity, scientific rigor, and collaboration.
- Create an inclusive environment that supports skill development, team cohesion, and career growth.
- PhD in structural biology, biochemistry, biophysics, bioengineering, or a related field.
- 10 years of hands-on experience with cryo-EM in both academic and industrial settings, with a strong record of publication and/or platform development.
- Strong familiarity with the computational and algorithmic aspects of cryo-EM data processing and integration with ML workflows.
- Experience collaborating with ML teams on joint algorithm and hardware-software interface development.
- Strong understanding of protein design, expression, and purification workflows.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence across disciplines.
- Demonstrated success in leading and scaling scientific or technical teams (minimum 3 years in a leadership or management capacity).
- Passion for using cutting-edge tools and technology to redefine the practice of structural biology.
You are energized by the opportunity to shape a next-generation cryo-EM organization in service of scientific innovation and therapeutic impact. You thrive at the interface of technology and biology, and you bring a balance of strategic vision and hands-on leadership. You operate with transparency, empathy, and purpose—setting a high bar for scientific and cultural excellence.
Generate:Biomedicines is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Recruitment & Staffing Agencies : Generate:Biomedicines does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Generate:Biomedicines or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Company’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Generate:Biomedicines and the Company will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.