Research Associate, Biology

About the team

Anthropic's Life Sciences team is building a world-class research group focused on making fundamental biological discoveries. The team combines cutting-edge AI with hands-on biological research, positioning Anthropic at the forefront of demonstrating how AI tools can accelerate scientific workflows and enable discovery.

About the role

We are hiring Research Associates: early-career bench scientists who will join a small team to help establish our biology research program. This is an entry-level role, great for individuals who have done some research during an undergrad or masters program and may be considering pursuing a PhD in Life Sciences in the future.

You'll work directly alongside senior scientists, executing and troubleshooting experiments at the bench while learning advanced techniques in a fast-moving, highly collaborative environment. We value curiosity, careful hands, and the willingness to take ownership of a result. Our scientists are eager to teach; we're hiring for motivation and trajectory as much as for existing skill.

This is a fully hands-on bench role — while familiarity with computational biology and bioinformatics is welcome, the role does not involve AI/ML model development.

Key responsibilities

• Execute molecular biology and biochemistry experiments at the bench under the direction of senior scientists
• Maintain meticulous, reproducible records and contribute to shared protocols
• Troubleshoot experiments, propose adjustments, and present results clearly in group meetings
• Maintain mammalian and bacterial cell lines, materials stocks, and reagent inventories
• Learn and adopt new techniques rapidly as projects evolve, with training provided

Minimum qualifications

• Have hands-on research experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, or a closely related field
• Are proficient with foundational molecular biology techniques: PCR, gel electrophoresis, molecular cloning, and plasmid preparation
• Have experience with aseptic technique and bacterial or mammalian cell culture, and with nucleic acid extraction, purification, and quantification
• Follow, document, and adapt experimental protocols with care and precision
• Are highly motivated, eager to learn, and energized by hands-on bench work
• Are practical and resourceful — you'd rather find a way through than a reason it can't be done
• Listen carefully, take feedback well, ask good questions, and are comfortable when priorities shift quickly
• Are excited to use AI models as a tool at the bench to plan experiments, interpret data, and decide what to try next

Preferred qualifications

• A BS or MS in molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical biology, microbiology, bioengineering, or a related discipline
• Protein expression and purification experience (e.g., affinity, SEC, IEX)
• Mammalian cell culture experience, including transfection and stable line maintenance
• Enzyme kinetics or quantitative biochemical assay development (fluorescence, absorbance, FRET)
• Next-generation sequencing library preparation experience
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics workflows and molecular biology software (e.g., sequence analysis, alignment, primer and construct design)
• Experience using AI tools such as Claude in a research setting — for literature review, protocol drafting, data interpretation, or experimental troubleshooting

This is a rare opportunity to help define how a frontier AI company does biology. You'll learn quickly, work closely with people who want to teach, and see your results feed directly into how the most capable AI models are evaluated and improved.