How to apply for Head of Biology

About Gray Swan

Gray Swan is an AI security company that builds tools to assess risks in AI models automatically. It works with leading frontier labs on model evaluation and develops real-time threat detection and adaptive adversarial red teaming agents. The team is about 50 people, well-funded, and growing quickly, with direct influence on how AI agents and systems are deployed at scale.

About the role

This role is to build and lead Gray Swan's biology safety capability from the ground up. You would be the technical authority on biological misuse risk across red-teaming, evaluation, benchmarking, defenses, and safety infrastructure. The work involves partnering with leading AI labs to translate biological expertise into scalable AI safety systems and help define industry standards for evaluating dangerous capabilities.

A typical day

A typical day might involve working on biological risk assessments for AI models, designing red-teaming or benchmarking approaches, and coordinating with AI labs on evaluation and safety infrastructure. You would also spend time building out Gray Swan's biology safety capability and defining standards for evaluating dangerous capabilities. Exact daily routines are not stated, so ask about team structure, tools, and priorities during interviews.

Who Gray Swan is looking for

• PhD-level expertise in biosecurity, molecular biology, synthetic biology, microbiology, immunology, or a related field.
• Significant experience with AI safety, biological risk assessment, or dual-use research.
• A drive to reduce catastrophic AI risks and work at the intersection of synthetic biology, biosecurity, AI safety, and machine learning.
• Ability to serve as a technical authority and build a new function, including red-teaming, evaluation, benchmarking, defenses, and safety infrastructure.

Tips for this application

• Show PhD-level depth in a relevant biological field and connect it directly to AI safety or biological risk assessment work.
• Describe any experience with dual-use research, red-teaming, evaluation, benchmarking, or safety infrastructure, since the role covers all of these.
• Mention specific examples of partnering with AI labs or translating biological expertise into scalable systems, because the job involves partnerships with leading AI labs.
• Explain how you would build a biology safety capability from the ground up, since this is a new function at Gray Swan.
• Reference Gray Swan's work evaluating AI models for frontier labs and its red teaming agents to show you understand the company's focus.

What to cover in your cover letter

['Your PhD-level biological expertise and how it applies to biological misuse risk in AI systems.', 'Concrete experience with AI safety, biological risk assessment, or dual-use research.', 'How you would build and lead a biology safety capability across red-teaming, evaluation, benchmarking, defenses, and safety infrastructure.', 'Your motivation to reduce catastrophic AI risks and work at the intersection of synthetic biology, biosecurity, AI safety, and machine learning.']

Research before applying

• Read Gray Swan's website, especially its work on evaluating AI models for frontier labs and its real-time threat detection and adaptive adversarial red teaming agents.
• Look into how Gray Swan describes its mission to use AI safely and securely and how that relates to biological risks.
• Find public information on Gray Swan's team size, funding, and growth to understand the stage of the company.
• Check for any public writing or talks from Gray Swan about AI security, red teaming, or evaluation standards.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would assess biological misuse risk in a frontier AI model.
• Your approach to designing red-teaming or benchmarking for dangerous biological capabilities.
• How you would translate deep biological expertise into scalable AI safety systems.
• How you would build and lead a new biology safety function from scratch.
• How you would partner with leading AI labs on evaluation and safety infrastructure.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying without showing PhD-level expertise in a relevant biological field.
• Failing to connect biological knowledge to AI safety, biological risk assessment, or dual-use research.
• Ignoring the build-from-the-ground-up nature of the role and not explaining how you would lead a new capability.