Full-Time
Machine Learning Engineering Lead
Posted on 8/19/2025
Ohalo
51-200 employees
Seed-based accelerated crop breeding platform
Compensation Overview
$140k - $180k/yr
No H1B Sponsorship
San Bruno, CA, USA
In Person
 AI & Machine Learning (1) |
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- A Master of Science in Computer Science, Statistics, Quantitative Genetics, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience.
- Three to five years building production machine learning or artificial intelligence systems, with at least one to two years in a technical-lead or mentoring role.
- Practical experience with genomic-prediction, genome-wide association studies, or related quantitative-genetics models, and proficiency in Bayesian or Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.
- Expert Python and experience with at least one machine learning framework such as JAX/NumPyro, TensorFlow, or PyTorch; strong understanding of microservices, Docker/Kubernetes, and cloud data platforms such as BigQuery or Vertex AI.
- Comfortable designing batch, streaming, and event-driven data pipelines using Pub/Sub, Kafka, or equivalent.
- Ability to set direction, give candid feedback, and bridge domain-scientist and engineer conversations with clarity.
- Lead technical strategy and architecture for statistical-genomic services—from MCMC breeding simulations to real-time breeding-value prediction APIs.
- Design, build, and maintain scalable ML pipelines on Google Cloud Platform (or the best-fit cloud) using Python, BigQuery/Spark, Kubernetes, and CI/CD best practices.
- Advance statistical rigor by championing Bayesian & mixed-model methods (Stan, PyMC, BGLR, TensorFlow Probability) and ensuring reproducible research-to-production transitions.
- Integrate genomic technologies: GWAS workflows, marker-assisted selection analytics, heterotic-group analysis, and large-scale phenotype/genotype feature stores.
- Mentor & grow a small team—provide technical guidance, establish code-review norms, and cultivate a culture of rapid, well-engineered experimentation.
- Own model-ops lifecycle: automated testing, containerized deployment, continuous monitoring, and A/B evaluation against breeding KPIs.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with plant scientists, data engineers, and the automation group to ingest high-throughput phenotyping data and close feedback loops.
- Report progress & roadmap trade-offs directly to the executive team, translating scientific ambition into clear engineering milestones and OKRs.
- Heterotic-group analysis, trait-mapping for fertility, Nextflow pipelines, or high-throughput phenotype imaging
Ohalo Genetics develops seeds using Boosted Breeding, a method that makes plants pass on their entire genome to offspring, enabling asexual reproduction through seeds. How it works: by altering the reproductive process, the offspring are genetically identical to the parent, producing true seeds that carry the full parent genome. This allows rapid development of new crop varieties with desirable traits, shortening breeding cycles from about 10–12 years to only a few years. What sets it apart: it targets a wide range of crops (potatoes, corn, berries) and collaborates with other agricultural companies to develop and commercialize new varieties, focusing on predictable, genotype-stable outcomes. What the company aims to achieve: increase crop productivity and resilience to changing environmental conditions, helping improve the food supply chain by delivering better-yielding, more reliable crops.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Late Stage VC
Total Funding
$100M
Headquarters
Seacliff, California
Founded
2019
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Early trials show 50-100%+ yield gains in potatoes, corn, berries.
- UF/IFAS partnership develops neopestalotiopsis-resistant strawberries for 2025 trials.
- $100M funding since 2019 supports rapid commercialization across multiple crops.
What critics are saying
- EU GMO regulations block 30-40% global market access immediately.
- Bayer and Corteva deploy competing platforms within 18-36 months.
- Field yield collapses destroy trust in 12-24 months.
What makes Ohalo unique
- Boosted Breeding passes entire parental genomes to offspring via CRISPR meiosis suppression.
- Creates uniform true seeds for vegetatively propagated crops like potatoes.
- Shortens 10-12 year breeding cycles to few years with polyploid trait stacking.
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Benefits
Remote Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -5%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↓ -1%APTOS, Calif., Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohalo Genetics, Inc. has entered into a groundbreaking Development & Commercialization Agreement with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc., and the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) to address the significant threat of neopestalotiopsis to the strawberry industry.This fungal disease, which can wipe out entire strawberry fields, has become one of the most damaging issues faced by Florida strawberry growers, affecting crop yields, increasing production costs and threatening the livelihood of farmers in a state known as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the United States".Neopestalotiopsis was first detected in Florida in 2017, with notable outbreaks in subsequent years. By 2019 and 2020, the disease had become widespread and severely damaged the crop across the state.Currently, there are no commercially available public strawberry varieties resistant to neopestalotiopsis. Growers have relied on fungicides and rigorous field management practices to mitigate the disease's effects, but these methods come with increased costs and limited effectiveness.In response to this challenge, Ohalo® leveraged its advanced breeding technology platform with genetic resources from UF/IFAS to develop a novel trait that makes a strawberry plant resistant to neopestalotiopsis and integrated that trait into existing University of Florida strawberry varieties. These new, resistant varieties will enter non-commercial, experimental trials in 2025."This collaboration showcases the power of public-private partnerships in solving critical agricultural challenges," said Jud Ward, CTO of Ohalo
Dave Friedberg, CEO of Ohalo, has unveiled a 'boosted breeding' technology that ensures offspring inherit all beneficial traits from both parent plants, potentially revolutionizing crop breeding. This method, which prevents the random splitting of genes, has shown to significantly increase yields. Ohalo, founded in 2019, has raised over $100 million in funding. Friedberg was inspired by Dr. Jud Ward's work at Driscoll’s and officially set up Ohalo in late summer 2019.
Vinod Khosla and Dave Friedberg struck a largely positive note on stage at the World Agri-Tech and Future Food-Tech conferences in San Francisco last week despite the ongoing funding winter.While AgFunder reported a 49.2% decline in agrifoodtech funding in 2023 and many startups face the abyss this year without a fresh influx of capital, money is always available for exceptional founders with disruptive products or technologies, insisted Dave Friedberg, CEO at investment group The Production Board (TPB) during a panel debate with Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla last Tuesday.“Exceptional founders have nothing to worry about,” said Friedberg. “But being a founder doesn’t give you the privilege of being able to raise money. And so that’s a fundamental truth that everyone’s going to get hit in the head with at some point. You can’t blame the market.”“That is so true,” agreed Khosla. “There are so many me-too kinds of startups. In fact, what I would argue is what the market has done is separated the really good startups from the not so good… Markets go up and down and you have to roll with the punches.”Vinod Khosla on cultivated meat: ‘We’ve probably looked at two dozen business plans, and not one made economic sense’Khosla, who highlighted his firm’s investments in Nitricity (on-farm nitrogen), Leaft (Rubisco protein), Impossible Foods (plant-based meat), Vertical Oceans (high-tech shrimp farming), Climate Corp (ag data), and Blue River (ag robotics) over the years, said: “I don’t think there are any areas I would say we’ve pulled back from
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