Freelance Life Science Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

EARLY CAREER GROWTH OPPORTUNITY

About the Company

Sapho Bio is the developer of a rapid microbiology release platform for precision medicine. We are a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers committed to transforming pharmaceutical release testing through innovation, speed, and accuracy. We are a team built on ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement, scaling rapidly following product validation and commercial traction. Our culture emphasizes agency, innovation, intellectual curiosity, and continual learning.

About the Role

We are seeking an early-career Growth Engineer reporting to the Head of Growth to help Sapho Bio turn ambitious ideas into measurable growth. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of technology, communication, AI, experimentation, and go-to-market execution. 

You will engineer the systems that power growth at Sapho Bio: AI apps, tools, and agents; an authoritative knowledge base that keeps generated content accurate and current without constant manual review; and the data pipelines and dashboards that show what is working. You will then put those systems to work on real business surfaces: technical and scientific content, website operations, events, and more. 

You will work across the full experiment cycle: identify an opportunity, form a hypothesis, build a prototype, launch a test, measure the result, communicate what you learned, and improve the next version.

This role is designed for a recent graduate or early-career builder who is equally energized by creating, testing, analyzing, and communicating. You do not need years of traditional marketing experience. We care about evidence that you have built something, shipped it to real users or audiences, measured the result, and improved it.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Marketing, Life Sciences, or a related field.
• At least 1 year of hands-on experience building and testing modern AI tools (such as fine-tuning models, retrieval and knowledge-base pipelines, or agentic workflows) and systematically evaluating their output for usefulness, accuracy, and consistency. Internships, co-ops, student ventures, research projects, freelance work, and substantial portfolio projects count.
• Experience creating, managing, and scaling the distribution of technical or scientific content to real users or audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, demonstrated by the ability to translate technical or scientific concepts into clear, compelling language, with an interest in biotechnology or regulated industries (prior biotechnology experience is welcome but not required).
• A portfolio, GitHub repository, personal site, or concise case study that includes at least two full-stack prototypes built with modern software approaches, showing what you built, how you measured it (hypotheses, success metrics, performance data), and how you approached the work.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, move quickly, and maintain strong attention to detail in a fast-paced startup environment, with a demonstrated ownership mentality and strong follow-through.
• Must reside within a reasonable commuting distance of San Carlos, CA.
  

Responsibilities

• Prototype and launch campaigns, content, digital experiences, and internal tools that test growth ideas quickly and make Sapho Bio's work compelling to scientific and business audiences.
• Build and test AI apps, tools, and agents to accelerate research, content development, task execution, and data analysis; run structured tests to identify where AI improves quality or speed and where human review remains essential.
• Build an authoritative knowledge base for content generation: ingest and annotate internal and external sources so that current policies, factual statements, FAQs, and regulatory context are always available as a grounded source of truth, reducing the need for manual review of generated content over time.
• Turn what works into scalable, auditable workflows: repeatable systems, templates, automations, and documented playbooks that combine verifiable code with predictable AI steps with well-defined inputs and outputs, supported by measurement dashboards and a searchable record of learnings.
• Translate complex technical and scientific work into accurate, audience-appropriate communication and content.
• Own projects end to end and perform other duties as assigned in support of company growth.
  

Schedule & Location

• This position is full-time, exempt, and primarily onsite in San Carlos, California.
• The standard schedule is Monday through Friday, with regular in-person collaboration across the team.
• Occasional local travel may be required for company events, customer research, training, or other business needs.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $100,000 - $115,000 annually

In addition to base compensation, this position is eligible for stock option participation, subject to company equity plan terms.

Benefits

• Paid Time Off: Unlimited PTO, plus company-recognized holidays.
• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• DoorDash Credit: $25 credit for lunch and dinner while working in the office.
• 401(k) Plan with company matching, subject to plan terms.
• Company-paid life insurance.
• Stock option package.

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are someone who:

• Takes full ownership of outcomes, not just assigned tasks.
• Has a strong work ethic and consistently follows through on commitments.
• Is naturally organized and enjoys building systems that scale.
• Thrives when solving operational problems and improving processes.
• Is intellectually curious and committed to continuous learning.
• Learns quickly and adapts well to changing priorities.
• Maintains a high level of integrity, accountability, and professionalism.
• Enjoys working in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment.
• Leverages technology and AI tools to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Application Requirements

Your cover letter (one page) should include clear examples of:

• Something you built and shipped (an app, tool, automation, or campaign), what happened after launch, and what you changed as a result.
• A time you used or tested AI tools or agents to do real work, how you designed the workflow, and how you evaluated the output for accuracy and consistency.
• A time you organized messy information (documents, data, or sources) into something structured and current that others could rely on.

Life at Sapho Bio

• High-Impact Work: Help transform pharmaceutical testing and accelerate patient access to life-saving therapies.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Financial Security: 401(k) with company matching and company-paid life insurance.
• Time to Recharge: Unlimited PTO and company-recognized holidays.
• Connection & Community: Team lunches, office events, and offsite gatherings.
• Competitive Compensation: Market-leading salary and meaningful equity participation.
• Fast-Paced Environment: Join a team that moves quickly, learns continuously, and executes with purpose.
• World-Class Team: Work alongside experienced scientists, engineers, and operators.
• Prime Location: Sunny, collaborative workspace in San Carlos.

Sapho Bio is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment is at-will, in accordance with California law.