Sr Manager, AI

About the role...

The Opportunity

Inari is transforming sustainable agriculture through AI-driven predictive design and advanced gene editing, and the team building our AI/ML capabilities is central to that mission. We are looking for an AI/ML leader to set the direction and technical standards for our AI Team – you will help define how artificial intelligence (AI) drives Inari to the next-generation of predictive design while staying close to the work that gets us there.

• You will own the roadmap for machine learning (ML) systems that serve genomic, phenotypic, and multi-omic predictions to scientists as well as the agentic systems we are building.

• You will balance delivery of production-ready ML workflows against the exploration of new modeling approaches that advance step-change trait improvement in crops.

• You will decide where we build versus adopt across foundation models, agentic systems, and third-party platforms.

• You will be accountable for the delivery, quality, and operability of everything your team ships.

This is an opportunity to lead in a highly cross-functional environment, working alongside computational biologists, data engineers, software engineers, and crop scientists.

What You’ll Do

• Set and execute the technical direction and standards for Inari’s AI Team, and find the right balance between shipping production ML workflows and exploring innovative modeling approaches.

• Define how models are evaluated and validated against experimental and field outcomes, so scientists can trust what they act on.

• Partner with computational and crop biologists to contextualize heterogeneous biological data and drive research-critical modeling programs.

• Drive the delivery of applied AI solutions – including agentic, GenAI, RAGs, and foundation models that advance scientific and business outcomes.

• Manage, mentor, and develop a high-caliber team of ML engineers, along with focused contractor engagements that help deliver specific capabilities.

• Remain hands-on, applying your technical expertise to solve complex problems and support the team where your contribution will have the greatest impact.

• Represent the AI Team in leadership conversations, helping shape and deliver Inari’s Data & AI Strategy.

What You’ll Bring

Required

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Computational Biology, or a related field (or BS with equivalent experience) and 7+ years of experience in machine learning, AI, or related technical roles, with a track record of models & ML pipelines running in production.

• Strong hands-on ML depth: advanced Python and the scientific stack, with experience training and deploying neural networks in PyTorch and/or TensorFlow.

• Proven ability to deploy, maintain, and monitor ML models and pipelines at scale, with practical experience across AWS, SageMaker, Docker, MLflow, and Airflow or equivalents.

• Experience owning a modeling roadmap end to end, from problem framing and evaluation through delivery.

• Experience leading a technical team, including setting direction, supporting the growth of the engineers on it, and influencing decisions beyond your own team.

• Strong grasp and practical experience with modern AI systems, including foundation models, RAG, and agentic workflows, with the judgment to know where they do and don’t apply.

• Strong and clear communication with cross-functional leaders, scientific partners, fellow engineers, and the ability to translate between biological questions and ML framings.

Great to have

• Background in life sciences, biotech, AgTech, or another domain where data and AI are central to scientific work.

• Familiarity with omics data types (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics).

• Experience applying ML to biological systems - in trait prediction, functional genomics, or network-based modeling.

• Experience training and fine-tuning ML models, including foundation models, with a track record of translating model outcomes into business impact.

• Experience supporting production-grade RAG, agentic, or model-serving systems, MCPs and similar agent integration frameworks.

• Familiarity with AWS Sagemaker, MLflow, AWS Bedrock Agentcore, or similar platforms & frameworks.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• Build the models today that drive Inari’s products tomorrow - your team’s predictions help shape what products and editing tools get designed, tested, and grown.

• Play in a rare technical sandbox - AI, biology, genomics, foundation models, engineering, agents. Boring isn’t on the menu.

• Stay close to the action - this is a leadership role that doesn’t ask you to stop building.

• Lead a group of talented ML engineers - building a strong team culture by defining what good looks like and how you get there.

• Join a culture built on openness and shared ownership. Inari runs on integrity, collaboration, and bold thinking - where speaking up is the norm and innovation is celebrated.

Inari pays competitively and rewards results.
The salary range for this position is $169,800 - $233,400. Whether you are full-time or part-time, Inari provide three different components of pay – base, short-term incentive, and long-term equity along with a one-time new hire stock option grant. That's rare!

We also offer a comprehensive benefits package including both a Preferred Provider Network (PPO) and High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a company-funded health savings account (HSA), vision, dental, and several flexible spending accounts (FSA), a host of voluntary benefits, and a robust wellness program. In addition, Inari offers a 401k plan with a company matching and a flexible paid time off policy.

Consistent with our commitment to pay transparency, salary range information is being disclosed. Please note that offers are based on the candidate's qualifications & experience as well as market demand.