Senior Computational Chemist, Drug Discovery
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Job Location:
Los Angeles, CA - USA
Yearly Salary:
$ 158 - 221
Posted on:
30+ days ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
About SandboxAQ
SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the worlds greatest challenges. The companys Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences financial services navigation cybersecurity and other sectors.
We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI chemistry cybersecurity physics mathematics medicine engineering and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent growth capital-backed company in 2022 funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders.
At SandboxAQ weve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity collaboration and impact. By investing deeply in our people were building a thriving global workforce poised to tackle the worlds epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism ownership and transformative impact.
About the Role:
SandboxAQs AI Simulation team develops novel drugs and materials by integrating AI and physics-based computational solutions. Our AQBioSim group seeks a computational chemist who will not only apply cutting-edge methodologies but also critically assess and refine computational approaches. This individual will challenge assumptions ask why when interpreting results and ensure the reliability and accuracy of findings rather than blindly trusting outputs.
This role will drive innovation by combining quantum AI and physics-based methodssuch as molecular dynamics and active learning free energy perturbationto advance drug discovery. Working within a highly skilled and multidisciplinary team including drug hunters with a strong track record in drug discovery computational chemists physicists AI experts and software engineers you will play a key role in shaping the future of computational drug design.
What Youll Do:
- Apply computational solutions to address unmet drug discovery challenges questioning assumptions and rigorously validating results.
- Work closely with the development team to enhance SandboxAQs unique technology and Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) for large-scale impact.
- Apply SandboxAQs computational platform to provide high-value drug discovery solutions while critically evaluating its methodologies and results.
- Translate insights from molecular dynamics free energy perturbation molecular docking quantum and ML methods into actionable testable drug discovery hypotheses.
- Collaborate closely with ML experts and cross-functional teams to prototype and scale innovative drug design solutions.
- Develop and deploy computational methods and workflows to generate and evaluate hypotheses guiding design decisions and influencing project direction.
- Challenge conventional thinking by critically assessing and interpreting computational outputs ensuring robust scientific conclusions.
- Directly contribute to the discovery of innovative medicines by integrating computational chemistry techniques into multidisciplinary drug discovery teams.
- Generate and evaluate hypotheses to assist design decisions and influence project direction by deploying and developing computational methods and workflows
- Work west coast hours and attend regular meetings with our strategic partner in Los Angeles
About You:
- PhD in computational physics computational chemistry or a related discipline.
- 3-5 years of relevant experience including hands-on experience with computational chemistry applied to drug discovery in biotech pharma or related industries.
- Excellent communication skills and record of fostering successful internal collaboration and effective external partnerships
- A deep commitment to critical thinking - comfortable questioning methodologies challenging assumptions and refining approaches to improve predictive accuracy.
- A drive to cooperate with colleagues to identify problems and communicate technical solutions clearly and effectively.
- A hands-on mentality & comfortable with getting deep into the technical weeds of highly complex problems and a track record of driving projects to completion
- Proficiency in structure-based drug design and familiarity with ligand-based drug design methods.
- Experience with GPU-accelerated MD codes like OpenMM.
- Experience in the Python data science stack (NumPy Pandas SciPy etc.).
- Familiarity with ligand-protein free energy of binding prediction methods such as Free Energy Perturbation (FEP) or similar.
- Experience running computational chemistry/quantum simulations on high-performance computing (GPU) environments for corporate R&D innovation labs or academic research.
- A passion for solving scientific problems in chemistry and biology through computational and data-driven methods with a commitment to rigorous validation and scientific integrity.
- Ability to leverage both experimental and computational data in forming strategic drug discovery approaches
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience in peptide & antibody research
- Experience in quantum chemistry and/or protein folding
- Experience in drug discovery project management
The US base salary range for this full-time position is expected to be $158k - $221k per year. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills experience and relevant education or training. This role may be eligible for annual discretionary bonuses and equity.
SandboxAQ welcomes all.
Required Experience:
Senior IC
Key Skills
- Business Consulting
- Gas Chromatography
- Laboratory Experience
- Analytical Chemistry
- FDA Regulations
- Wet chemistry
- Chromatography
- High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
- Spectroscopy
- GLP
- cGMP
- Organic Chemistry
About Company
SandboxAQ leverages the compound effects of AI and advanced computing to address some of the biggest challenges impacting society. SandboxAQ technologies include AI simulation, cryptography management for cybersecurity, and AI sensing for global organizations.
