Brightseed Careers

ABOUT BRIGHTSEED

Brightseed is a pioneer in biosciences and artificial intelligence (A.I.) that illuminates nature to restore human health. Brightseed’s proprietary A.I., Forager®, accelerates bioactive discovery, biological validation and ingredient formulation from years to months, rapidly revealing new connections between nature and humanity. Through Forager® and clinical evaluation, Brightseed partners with organizations across the consumer health continuum to offer insight into the world of bioactives and health solutions. Visit www.brightseedbio.com to learn more.

ABOUT BIOACTIVES

Bioactives are small molecule compounds produced by plants, fungi, and microbes that grow in and adapt to environments that present a wide range of challenges to their survival. Bioactives also benefit the health of humans – they are the enlivening caffeine in tea, the powerful antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes or curcumin in turmeric, and they inform active ingredients in medicines like Taxol, aspirin and Metformin, the latter a first-line treatment for Type 2 diabetes derived from the French lilac flower. Science has long known that bioactives are critical to human health, yet the vast majority remain unknown and uncharted – often referred to as the “dark matter” of nutrition. Brightseed’s A.I., Forager®, discovers bioactives in nature and maps them to human health outcomes at a rate and accuracy that was previously impossible.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Brightseed’s Natural Products Chemistry team experimentally validates predictions made by Forager®. We produce complex extracts and fractions from biological sources, then purify and characterize the bioactive compounds responsible for the desired health promoting effects. As we apply our technology to more health areas, there is a need to accelerate the pace of bioactive compound discovery. 

As a Computational Chemistry scientist, you will help to develop computational tools to rapidly annotate active compounds. This will involve combining spectrometric and spectroscopic data to dereplicate known compounds in extract mixtures, as well as characterize novel isolated pure compounds. Your work will support the Natural Products Chemistry team in uncovering new connections between natural compounds and human health. This will help move more bioactives from initial discovery to further downstream product development. In this role, you will work with a multidisciplinary team of natural product chemists, biologists, computational biologists, process engineers, and product development scientists to deliver solutions to unmet industrial needs. 

THE IMPACT YOU WILL MAKE

• Lead design and implementation of computational algorithms to discover natural bioactive molecules
• Develop and validate high-quality computational tools for automated compound annotation 
• Build automated data process, analysis, and visualization tools to speed up natural products chemistry pipeline 
• Join and deliver high-impact  internal and external discovery projects/programs 
• Acquire, analyze, and report High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), UV absorbance and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) data 
• Combine wet and dry research with a 20-80 time split between bench experiments and computational developments 

• Ph.D. in Natural product chemistry, computational chemistry, metabolomics or related disciplines
• Preferably 2 years of industrial experience in relevant research areas
• Experienced in  analysis and interpretation of standard spectroscopic and spectrometric data (LC-MS, 1H-NMR) 
• Experienced in using  data processing tools for LC-MS, NMR, and UV Vis 
• Strong expertise in data analysis and visualization
• Hands-on experience in programming languages, preferably R or Python or both
• Hands-on experience using standard analytical instrumentation (e.g. HPLC, LC-MS)
• Experience in small molecule structure elucidation
• Proven track record of scientific excellence 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• The salary range for this position is $136,000 - $155,000. 
• Compensation for this position is commensurate with relevant qualifications and work experience, academic credentials, job related skills, employment location and other factors. 
• More senior candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

THE BENEFITS YOU'LL ENJOY

As a lab based company, where in person collaboration is key to drive innovation, we encourage all team members to be in our office most days each week. However we appreciate and honor the need and desire for flexibility and have implemented a hybrid working model. We have a fully stocked healthy kitchen, a gym onsite, plenty of free parking, weekly team events and a state-of-the-art lab and office. 

We offer a competitive total rewards package with team-first benefits programs for full-time employees, including medical, dental and vision coverage, unlimited paid time off, life insurance, employee assistance programs, 401(k) plan, a mental health platform, employee discounts, payroll credits for cell phone and commuter costs and a paid parental leave program.

JOIN US, AND BE YOU

We are committed to making transformative discoveries with a team-first mentality. Successful team members are truth-seeking and trusting, with the tenacity required to trail blaze in uncharted territory. We are a collaborative team that actively seeks input and values differing perspectives. And we produce tangible results, holding ourselves accountable in the process. 

We are also committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of connectedness and inclusion. We grow and learn together, respecting professional and personal experiences, areas of expertise, and types of self expression. 

In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that each one of us brings in terms of education, opinions, culture, color, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, religion, different abilities, sexual orientation and beliefs.