Computational Biology Intern

About Novaflow

Novaflow is the AI data analyst for biology labs. Analytics is the bottleneck for scientific discovery. Biologists have to outsource analysis to expensive bioinformaticians or core services and wait weeks or months for results. We're solving this by putting analysis directly back into the hands of researchers, allowing them to go from raw data to publication-ready insights and visualizations in days instead of months. We're well-funded, growing extremely fast, and backed by leading investors including Y Combinator and BioRender.

About the Role

We're hiring a Computational Biology Intern to help build and improve the bioinformatics pipelines behind our platform. You'll work on real analysis workflows that process raw sequencing data for actual research labs, not toy projects. If the science is wrong, scientists notice. You'll care about getting it right.

This is not a sit-in-the-corner internship. We're a small team and you'll work directly with the founders on real problems from day one. We're looking for someone with high agency who takes initiative and doesn't wait to be told what to do.

This role can be remote or in-person at our San Francisco office. There is potential to convert to a full-time position based on performance.

What You'll Work On

• Help build and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for genomics, transcriptomics, and other -omics data
• Write clean, reproducible analysis code in Python and/or R
• Assist with cloud infrastructure (AWS or GCP) for running large-scale compute workloads
• Integrate existing bioinformatics tools, databases, and data sources into the platform
• Validate pipeline outputs against published methodologies and real scientific standards
• Help identify what researchers actually need and translate that into product decisions

Requirements

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor's or Master's in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, or a related field
• Proficient in Python and/or R
• Familiarity with common bioinformatics file formats (FASTQ, BAM, VCF, etc.)
• Comfortable in Linux/Unix command-line environments
• Understanding of molecular biology fundamentals (genomics, gene expression, variant calling)
• Good communicator who can work across biology and engineering

Nice to Have

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP)
• Familiarity with workflow managers (Nextflow, Snakemake, or similar)
• Docker experience
• Exposure to LLMs or AI/ML tools
• Previous startup experience (prior experience either working for or founding a startup)

Why Join Us?

• Competitive intern compensation
• Meals covered when you're in the office (lunch daily, dinner when you're working late)
• Opportunity to convert to a full-time founding team role
• Work directly with the founders with full visibility into product strategy, customer conversations, and fundraising
• Real responsibility from day one at a fast-growing YC company
• If you're curious about being a founder one day, this is your front-row seat.