Virologist – AI Safety and Evaluations

About 10a Labs: 10a Labs is the safety and threat-intelligence layer trusted by frontier AI labs, AI unicorns, Fortune 10 companies, and leading global technology platforms. Our adversarial red teaming, model evaluations, and intelligence collection enable engineering, safety, and security teams to stay ahead of evolving threats and deploy AI systems safely.

We are primarily seeking candidates based in the Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, and Denver metropolitan areas. Candidates hired in these locations will be expected to work from a 10a Labs office at least two days per week.

All new hires will participate in in-person onboarding in Washington, DC, New York City, or San Francisco during their first week. Occasional travel may also be required for interviews, in-person meetings, and other business needs.

We are seeking a Virologist with expertise in virology, microbiology, and biosecurity to support the design and execution of technical evaluations of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems, including Large Language Models (LLMs).

The ideal candidate will have a strong scientific background in biological research, an understanding of dual-use biological risks, and an interest in evaluating the capabilities and potential misuse risks of emerging AI technologies.

This role will focus on developing scientifically rigorous benchmarks, designing and conducting model evaluations, and assessing AI-generated scientific outputs for technical accuracy, feasibility, and potential implications for biological safety and security. The candidate will work closely with multidisciplinary teams of scientists, AI researchers, and engineers to develop evaluation methodologies and communicate findings to stakeholders.

• Design and develop scientific benchmarks and evaluation methodologies to assess the biological knowledge, reasoning, and technical capabilities of advanced AI models.
• Conduct model capability evaluations and red-teaming exercises to assess potential biological misuse risks associated with advanced AI systems.
• Develop scientifically grounded evaluation scenarios, questions, and tasks spanning virology, microbiology, and other relevant biological domains.
• Assess AI-generated scientific outputs for technical accuracy, feasibility, completeness, and potential implications for biosecurity.
• Identify and characterize potential misuse scenarios involving biological agents, dual-use research, and emerging AI capabilities.
• Contribute to the development of evaluation criteria, scoring rubrics, and methodologies for measuring model performance and potential capability uplift.
• Collaborate with AI researchers, engineers, and subject matter experts to develop and implement scalable evaluation approaches, including automated benchmarks.
• Analyze evaluation results, identify patterns in model capabilities and limitations, and contribute to technical reports and client deliverables.
• Stay informed of emerging developments in biological research, AI capabilities, biosecurity risks, and relevant AI safety frameworks to inform evaluation design.

• PhD in Virology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, or a closely related biological science, or equivalent practical experience.
• Research experience involving pathogenic viruses, bacteria, or other biologically relevant systems.
• Strong understanding of biological research methods, experimental design, and the technical challenges associated with biological research and development.
• Demonstrated knowledge of biosecurity principles, dual-use biological research, and potential biological misuse risks.
• Experience critically evaluating scientific literature, experimental methodologies, and technical research outputs.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to assess complex scientific information for accuracy, feasibility, and technical limitations.
• Experience preparing technical reports, presenting scientific findings, and communicating complex concepts to multidisciplinary audiences.

• Experience conducting AI model evaluations, developing scientific benchmarks, or assessing the capabilities and limitations of LLMs.
• Experience with AI red-teaming, biological risk assessments, or evaluating potential misuse scenarios involving emerging technologies.
• Hands-on experience in virology or microbiology laboratories, including work in BSL-2 or higher containment environments.
• Experience using command-line tools, programming…