Pharmaceutical R&D Domain Expert | $75–115/hr | Hybrid – Bay Area, CA
Join a leading AI lab's GenAI team and play a central role in shaping how frontier AI models reason about real-world pharmaceutical research and development. This is a hybrid, full-time W-2 position employed through Cincinnatus LLC, embedded directly within a top-tier AI lab's research team in the Bay Area.
About the Role
We are seeking a senior pharmaceutical R&D specialist to work alongside AI researchers and program managers, improving the quality and depth of AI model outputs in drug discovery and development contexts. Your scientific expertise is the foundation of this role — you will define what "correct" looks like, build evaluation benchmarks, and ensure AI-generated content meets rigorous scientific and regulatory standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Data QA & Review: Evaluate pharmaceutical knowledge tasks and model outputs, identifying gaps in reasoning, unsupported safety or efficacy claims, and answers that wouldn't withstand scientific or regulatory scrutiny.
- Instruction Specs & Golden Datasets: Author high-quality instruction specifications, produce expert-level solutions to drug discovery problems, and define tasks that reflect real industry workflows.
- Benchmarks & Evaluation: Design challenging pharmaceutical evaluation sets and contribute to domain-specific tools and skills in collaboration with the research team.
- Calibration: Partner with researchers and cross-functional specialists to maintain consistent standards, translating tacit development judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.
Core Qualifications
- Education: PhD or PharmD in a pharmaceutically relevant discipline (e.g., medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology, pharmaceutical sciences, or toxicology). An MD with substantive drug development experience also qualifies.
- Experience: 4+ years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology R&D experience at a pharma company, biotech, CRO, or translational research institute.
- Domain Depth: Genuine specialization in at least one pipeline stage — target identification, medicinal chemistry, preclinical pharmacology, translational science, clinical development, or regulatory/CMC.
- Seniority: Demonstrated progression to Senior Scientist, Principal Scientist, Director, or VP-level R&D, with real ownership of a discovery or development program.
- Research Record: Peer-reviewed publications, granted patents, or contributions to programs that reached the clinic (strongly preferred).
- AI Fluency: Hands-on professional use of large language models, with the judgment to distinguish well-reasoned answers from plausible-sounding errors.
- Availability: Able to commit to 40 hours/week for an initial 6-month engagement.
- Location: Must reside in the Bay Area, CA, and be available to work on-site multiple days per week. Relocation assistance is not provided.
Employment Details
This role is a structured, full-time W-2 position with Cincinnatus LLC, an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology firms. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record, providing payroll, benefits, and compliance, while you work embedded within the client's internal teams.
Cincinnatus LLC is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer committed to diversity, inclusion, and providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
