Application Guide

How to Apply for Senior / Staff Product Manager

at Recursion

🏢 About Recursion

Recursion is a biotechnology company pioneering industrial-scale drug discovery by combining automated wet-lab experiments with AI and machine learning. What makes them unique is their 'industrialization' approach - treating drug discovery like an engineering problem rather than traditional small-scale research. Someone might want to work there to be at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and meaningful healthcare impact, with the potential to accelerate treatments for serious diseases.

About This Role

This role involves developing the product vision and roadmap for Recursion's molecular design platform, specifically bridging scientific teams with technical teams to translate complex cheminformatics needs into actionable product plans. It's impactful because you'll be building foundational infrastructure that directly enables faster, more efficient drug discovery across the entire pipeline, helping standardize workflows that could accelerate treatments reaching patients.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might involve morning stand-ups with cross-functional teams of cheminformaticians and AI scientists, followed by deep work sessions translating scientific feedback into product requirements for the molecular design platform. You'd likely spend afternoons in roadmap planning sessions, balancing immediate scientific needs with long-term infrastructure investments to scale the discovery engine.

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🎯 Who Recursion Is Looking For

  • Has 3-5+ years of PM experience specifically with AI/ML or data science-heavy products, with demonstrable examples of launching and improving machine learning systems in production
  • Possesses both scientific literacy (understanding molecular design concepts) AND technical fluency to translate between scientists and engineers effectively
  • Demonstrates systems-thinking with experience standardizing workflows and building scalable infrastructure, not just feature development
  • Shows passion for user research within scientific/technical domains, with examples of feedback-driven development for complex user personas

📝 Tips for Applying to Recursion

1

Quantify your impact on AI/ML products - include metrics about model deployment, system scalability, or workflow efficiency improvements in your resume

2

Research Recursion's specific molecular design platform (mentioned in their research publications or presentations) and reference it in your application

3

Prepare specific examples of how you've bridged technical and scientific teams in past roles, especially in drug discovery or related fields

4

Highlight experience with cheminformatics tools or molecular design workflows if you have it - even tangential exposure should be mentioned

5

Tailor your application to show how you've 'industrialized' processes before - focus on standardization, automation, and scalability achievements

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your experience with AI/ML product lifecycle specifically for scientific or research applications', 'Examples of translating complex scientific requirements into technical product specifications', "How you've built scalable infrastructure or standardized workflows in previous roles", "Your understanding of Recursion's mission to industrialize drug discovery and how your approach aligns"]

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Recursion's OS (Operating System) for drug discovery and their specific molecular design capabilities mentioned in their technical papers
  • → Their recent publications in scientific journals about their AI/ML approaches to drug discovery
  • → Their pipeline and therapeutic areas to understand what diseases their molecular design platform is targeting
  • → Their leadership team's background and recent presentations about industrializing drug discovery

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Walk me through how you would approach building a product roadmap for a molecular design platform serving both scientists and engineers
2 Describe a time you had to translate highly technical or scientific requirements into actionable product plans for engineering teams
3 How do you measure success for AI/ML products, and what metrics would you track for a molecular design platform?
4 What experience do you have with cheminformatics tools or molecular modeling workflows, and how would that inform your product decisions?
5 How would you approach standardizing scientific workflows while maintaining flexibility for research innovation?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Focusing only on consumer product experience without connecting it to scientific/technical product management
  • Being vague about AI/ML experience - they specifically want comfort with building, deploying, and improving ML systems
  • Applying generic product management frameworks without demonstrating understanding of Recursion's specific 'industrialization' approach

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Recursion!

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