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Biotechnology Startup Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

... biotech, manufacturing, aerospace, and more-and who have a strong customer service focus. Previous immigration experience or a legal background is not required for this role. While previous startup ...

... biotech, manufacturing, aerospace, and more-and who have a strong customer service focus. Previous immigration experience or a legal background is not required for this role. While previous startup ...

Visby Medical R&D Technician San Jose based Visby Medical, Inc. is an ambitious, and fast-paced early stage biotech startup. Driven by a belief that disease diagnosis should be quick, accurate, and ...

Administrative Assistant

San Diego, CA · On-site

$70K - $100K/yr

Startup experience is a plus  Experience & Education * Minimum 3-5+ years of administrative, executive assistant, or office management experience, with a meaningful portion of that in a biotech ...

Showing results 21-40

Biotechnology Startup information

See California salary details

$24.5K

$86.4K

$175.3K

How much do biotechnology startup jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 7, 2026, the average yearly pay for biotechnology startup in California is $86,401.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $48,961.00 and $112,121.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a biotechnology startup?

A biotechnology startup is a newly established company that leverages biological systems, organisms, or derivatives to develop innovative products or services, often in sectors like healthcare, agriculture, or environmental science. These startups typically focus on research and development to solve real-world problems using cutting-edge biological and technological approaches. They may work on developing new drugs, diagnostic tools, genetically modified crops, or sustainable materials. Biotechnology startups often require significant scientific expertise, access to laboratory equipment, and funding to bring their innovations to market.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in a biotechnology startup, and why are they important?

To thrive in a biotechnology startup, you need a strong background in life sciences, research methodologies, and often an advanced degree such as a Ph.D. or M.S. in a relevant field. Experience with laboratory techniques, data analysis software, and familiarity with regulatory compliance tools like GLP or GMP are typically required. Entrepreneurial mindset, adaptability, and strong communication skills set individuals apart in the fast-paced startup environment. These skills are crucial for driving innovation, ensuring scientific rigor, and successfully navigating the unique challenges of early-stage biotech companies.

What are some common challenges faced by employees working at a biotechnology startup?

Employees at biotechnology startups often encounter challenges such as rapidly changing priorities, limited resources, and tight deadlines. The work environment is typically fast-paced and requires adaptability, as team members may need to wear multiple hats and take on tasks beyond their primary job description. Collaboration across interdisciplinary teams—such as research, product development, and business operations—is crucial for success. Despite these challenges, the dynamic atmosphere offers significant opportunities for professional growth and learning.

What is the difference between Biotechnology Startup vs Biotechnology Research Scientist?

AspectBiotechnology StartupBiotechnology Research Scientist
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Biotechnology, Biology, or related fields; entrepreneurial skillsMaster's or Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Biology, or related fields; research expertise
Work EnvironmentFast-paced, dynamic, startup setting; cross-functional teamsLaboratory, academic or corporate research settings; focused on experiments
Employer & Industry UsageStartups, biotech firms, innovation-driven companiesResearch institutions, universities, biotech companies

Biotechnology startups focus on developing new products and solutions in a fast-paced environment, often requiring entrepreneurial skills. In contrast, biotechnology research scientists primarily conduct experiments and studies to advance scientific knowledge. Both roles require strong biotech credentials, but their work settings and objectives differ significantly.

What job categories do people searching Biotechnology Startup jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Biotechnology Startup jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Biotechnology Startup jobs?

Cities in California with the most Biotechnology Startup job openings:

Infographic showing various Biotechnology Startup job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 85% Full Time, 10% Part Time, 4% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 78% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 19% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $86,401 per year, or $41.5 per hour.

AI Scientist - Biomedical Multimodal Modeling

Menlo Ventures

South San Francisco, CA • On-site

$200 - $250/hr

Other

Posted 19 days ago


Key responsibilities

  • Develop multimodal foundation models spanning image and molecular data

  • Design approaches that unify representation learning and generative modeling

  • Build scalable systems for data processing, training, and evaluation


Job description

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

We are building foundation models for biological systems, focusing on learning from complex, multimodal data. Our approach combines representation learning and generative modeling to capture structure, variation, and latent organization in high-dimensional settings. We work with both image-based data and high-dimensional molecular (omics) measurements, treating them as complementary views of the same underlying system. Our goal is to develop models that can both encode rich representations and generate or infer missing aspects from partial observations.

What You’ll Do
  • Develop multimodal foundation models spanning image and molecular data
  • Design approaches that unify representation learning and generative modeling
  • Train large-scale models on structured, high-dimensional datasets
  • Explore cross-modal alignment, prediction, and generation
  • Build scalable systems for data processing, training, and evaluation
  • Work in a research-driven environment with evolving problem definitions
What We’re Looking For

Strong background in deep learning, especially in modern architecture.

  • Experience with representation learning (self-supervised, contrastive, masked modeling, etc.)
  • Experience with generative modeling (diffusion, autoregressive models, VAEs, or related approaches)
  • Proficiency in Python, ML frameworks, and CI/CD (PyTorch, JAX, etc.)
Relevant Experience
  • Work on multimodal learning or cross-domain representation learning
  • Experience with image data, molecular / omics-like data, or both
  • Familiarity with large-scale training
Bonus
  • Exposure to biological or scientific datasets
  • Experience with paired or partially aligned multimodal data
  • Comfortable working in open-ended, evolving problem spaces
Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $170,000 - $240,000 annually; however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Equal Opportunity

Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

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