Product Research Scientist, Drug Discovery
About The Position
SandboxAQ's AI Simulation group partners with global research teams to discover new drugs and materials using AI and physics-based computational solutions. Our team's unique approach enables cross-pollination across diverse fields, from physics, computer science, neuroscience, mathematics, and natural sciences, yielding breakthrough AI + Quantum solutions. The AI Simulation team is looking for a Product Research Scientist to join our team. This role is central to our efforts to drive the translation of internal drug discovery research software, specifically from our ML and Computational Chemistry teams, into external-facing, production-ready product offerings. This person will partner directly with researchers to understand scientific code and translate it into robust, scalable products served across multiple platforms, operate as the research and scientific liaison within a dedicated "pod" structure collaborating with software engineers, computational chemists, AI experts, and product stakeholders, and drive the product lifecycle from scientific inception to external deployment.
Requirements
- PhD in chemistry, biology, or a related discipline.
- 3-5 years of relevant experience in a product-focused engineering or applied science role, specifically translating ML or computational chemistry research into production software in the private sector (biotech/pharma preferred).
- Experience deploying and maintaining machine learning models for scientific applications (e.g., molecular property prediction, multi-objective optimization).
- Proficiency with Python toolkits for scientific computing (e.g., NumPy, Pandas, SciPy) and machine learning (e.g., scikit-learn, PyTorch).
- Strong communication skills and a drive to collaborate with colleagues to identify problems and communicate technical solutions in an accessible manner.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with production deployment environments and principles (e.g., cloud platforms, CI/CD, containerization) and high-performance computing (GPU) environments.
- An interest in solving scientific problems in chemistry and biology via computational and data-driven methods.
- Hands-on mentality and comfort with getting deep into the technical details of complex problems, with a track record of driving projects to completion.
Responsibilities
- Partner with ML and Computational Chemistry researchers to translate internal scientific code and prototypes into robust, production-ready software systems for external product offerings.
- Implement and integrate core scientific algorithms (ML, deep learning, physics-based simulation) into scalable product platforms.
- Collaborate within a multi-disciplinary "pod" of engineers, computational chemists, AI experts, and product managers to define requirements, architecture, and deployment strategies for new features.
- Ensure the scientific integrity and accuracy of research models (e.g., active learning, FEP, etc.) when deployed in production.
- Drive the product lifecycle from scientific inception to external deployment, ensuring technical excellence and market fit.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents with generous employer premium contributions
- Retirement savings with company matching
- Paid parental leave
- Inclusive family-building benefits
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
