Engineering Manager, BenchSci
Knowledge Engineering
AI for biomedical research
Job no longer available
AI for biomedical research
201-500 employees
Job no longer available
201-500 employees
Company mission
To exponentially increase the speed and quality of life-saving research by empowering scientists with the world's most advanced biomedical artificial intelligence.
Role
Who you are
- We are looking for an experienced Knowledge Engineering Manager to join our Knowledge Representation team
- The ideal candidate will be deeply versed in the intricacies of knowledge graphs, graph databases, Knowledge representation techniques, and ideally experienced in the application of graph data science for insightful knowledge extraction and enrichment
- The most successful candidates for this role will be experienced knowledge engineers who have remained hands-on, are most comfortable providing technical leadership and delivering complex knowledge engineering solutions such as knowledge graphs
- This role is perfect for a leader who is technically adept and passionate about guiding a team toward innovative solutions in how we represent knowledge
- 5+ years hands-on experience working in knowledge engineering, some of which is in the biological or science domains
- 3+ years in technical leadership roles
- 2+ years of experience working as a knowledge engineering manager
- A Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field, with a strong emphasis on knowledge engineering, possibly also including machine learning
- A proven track record technically leading the delivery of complex knowledge engineering projects with high-performing teams leveraging state-of-the-art technologies and techniques
- Have remained technically hands-on and have maintained a high cadence of code contributions over the last 12 months
- Extensive background in knowledge engineering with a proven track record building and deploying large scalable performant knowledge graphs using graph databases and associated technologies (e.g., Neo4j, Amazon Neptune, TigerGraph, JanusGraph, ArangoDB, and OrientDB)
- Deep understanding of when and how to deploy different knowledge graph-related technologies such as labeled property graphs, semantic networks, RDF, and RDFS
- Proficient in various knowledge representation techniques such as ontologies, taxonomies, and frames
- Experience developing or extending ontologies to model domain knowledge in a structured form with an understanding of ontology languages such as OWL (Web Ontology Language)
- Domain expertise working in knowledge acquisition of biological data and experience working with biological ontologies (e.g. Mondo, ChEBI, KEGG, UniProt, Reactome etc)
- Familiar with mid-level biological ontologies, such as BioLink, and how they can be leveraged to integrate (disambiguation, canonicalisation, standardisation) disparate biological ontologies
- Extensive skills in data modelling in graphs and relational databases, as well as graph and relational database design and management
- Exceptional programming skills, predominantly in Python, with exposure to other languages, along with graph querying languages such as Cypher and SPARQL
- Outstanding leadership qualities, coupled with a passion for mentoring and advancing a team of talented engineers
- Well-versed in Agile software development methodologies and practices
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills. Can clearly explain complex technical concepts/systems to engineering peers and non-engineering stakeholders alike
- A growth mindset that ensures you’re up-to-date with state-of-the-art and cutting-edge advances related to knowledge engineering, and are actively engaging with the relevant tech communities
Desirable
- Knowledge of how to leverage ML, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and LLMs for knowledge discovery and acquisition to build knowledge graphs from unstructured data
- Familiar with state-of-the-art approaches and techniques for generating graph embeddings, and vectorization of knowledge graphs
- Knowledge of how to leverage ML techniques, and LLMs (including RAG) for understanding and extracting data in knowledge graphs
- Have worked alongside machine learning engineers carrying out in-graph machine learning on knowledge graphs you have constructed
- Familiarity with how to maximize knowledge discovery and to enrich knowledge graphs (KG) by reasoning over and inferencing from existing KG data using graph data science (GDS), graph machine learning (GML), and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) approaches
What the job involves
- You will be reporting to the Director of Engineering, Data & ML
- Using your specialism in knowledge engineering you will spearhead our team towards groundbreaking advancements in knowledge engineering, representation and management
- The successful candidate will not only be a people and technical leader, but also a mentor, coach, and a role model in our organisation
- Be a people leader of a small (approx 4-6) team of knowledge engineers and data engineers
- Be hands-on as needed in coding, data modelling, as well as participating in system design, code pairing, PR reviews, building data pipelines, and writing TDDs (technical design documents)
- Own and drive execution of the technical roadmap for your team in line with the technical and product roadmaps
- Provide engineering/technical leadership on Knowledge Engineering projects that contribute to the data in BenchSci’s Knowledge Graph
- Be responsible for building and maintaining BenchSci’s knowledge graph, including our biological ontologies that form part of it
- Lead the harmonisation and integration of diverse biological ontologies into a cohesive knowledge base, utilising standards like RDF (Resource Description Framework), OWL (Web Ontology Language), and technologies like Neo4j
- Advocate for and implement leading graph database technologies, as well as RDF Stores and Triple-stores where relevant, to construct scalable, performant and robust systems
- Work closely with senior and lead engineers within your team, and on other teams, to ensure alignment on technical solutions and delivery
- Liaise closely with stakeholders from other functions including product, science and project management
- Help ensure the adoption of engineering best practices and state-of-the-art knowledge engineering approaches at BenchSci.Uphold best practices in data modelling, representation, and management
- Drive agile practices within the team, and lead certain agile rituals
- Take a leadership role in our recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes
- Provide mentorship and carry out regular 1:1 meetings with direct reports.Work with your team to continuously drive improvements in ways of working, productivity and quality of work product
Our take
Over the past decade, the cost of bringing a drug to market has increased exponentially. But the number of drugs approved has stayed stagnant, leading to a decline in research productivity. Through the development of AI-assisted software, BenchSci has allowed scientists to rapidly compute data from scientific journals and product catalogues to dramatically reduce these inefficiencies in the R&D process.
The company offers a lateral solution to traditional, manual data analysis to allow for data leveraging. Plus it supplies an automated, comprehensive overview of existing relevant research. These methods have made BenchSci a forerunner in the drug development industry; the company's software is used by leading pharmaceutical companies.
BenchSci continues to invest in its machine learning technology, and in 2023 launched ASCEND. This is software that extracts experimental evidence from internal and external sources to help improve the hit rate of drug trials. It has also raised considerable funds, which supports the continued expansion of the platform.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
31% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
May 2023
$68.3m
SERIES D
Jan 2022
$45.3m
SERIES C
Total funding: $158.8m
Company benefits
- An engaging remote-first culture that hires the best talent from around the world
- Compensation package that includes BenchSci equity options
- Comprehensive health and dental benefits with an emphasis on mental health
- An annual Executive Health Assessment at Medcan for proactive health awareness
- Three weeks of vacation plus an additional day for every completed year
- A $2000 Annual Learning & Development budget
- Generous parental leave benefits with a top-up plan or paid time off options
- Additional time-off: 2 weeks for Winter Holiday, every other Friday in July and August, your birthday, and more!
- A $1000 work from home allowance to make your home setup perfect for you
- An Oculus Quest 2 to connect with your team members in Virtual Reality
- An executive coach for managers to assist in leading high-performing teams
- Complimentary Headspace account to support mental wellness and focus
- Complimentary genome sequencing from 23andMe to better understand your health through your DNA
Company HQ
Little Italy, Toronto, ON
Leadership
Dr. Elvis Wianda
(Chief Data Officer & Co-founder)Obtained a PhD studying Health & Medical Physics at the University of Toronto before joining BenchSci.
Dr. Tom Leung
(Chief Scientist & Co-founder)Previously held roles within the University of Toronto as a Research Assistant and Postdoctoral Fellow.
Liran Belenzon
(CEO & Co-founder)Previously co-founded and held role as CEO at companies including Standy and Biz-Coupon. Currently a CDL Associate at Creative Destruction Lab.
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