Senior Scientist, Computational Chemistry

Merck & Co. • West Point, PA

193d • $126,500 - $199,100 • Onsite

About The Position

Our Company is seeking a creative, self-motivated computational chemist with exceptional interpersonal and problem-solving skills to join the Modeling and Informatics group at our West Point, PA site. We are expanding our capability in computational medicinal chemistry and drug design to support our future organizational strategy for therapeutic discovery. Modeling and Informatics is a sub-team of Discovery Chemistry, who employ state of the art capabilities in predictive sciences, AI/ML and structure-based drug design to accelerate our invention of therapeutics for patients. We are an integral arm of both Discovery and Process Chemistry, and we collaborate seamlessly with teams across the globe to invent better molecules faster. With an unbiased approach to drug modalities, in-house access to the newest screening techniques, and world-class medicinal chemistry, we have a wealth of opportunities to impact our pipeline and ultimately save and improve patient lives. The successful candidate will join multidisciplinary, highly collaborative discovery teams both locally and across our Company's network to invent novel medicines. They will apply advanced computational techniques and develop innovative computational methods as necessary to solve problems in drug design.

Requirements

• PhD or master's degree in biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, engineering, or equivalent, with a computational emphasis.
• Proficiency in general molecular modeling techniques (docking, molecular simulation, homology modeling, quantum mechanics, ligand- and structure-based design) and Linux environment.
• Ability to communicate, collaborate and deliver results as a member of multi-disciplinary teams.
• A strong desire to learn and to innovate.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Evidence of creative application of computational approaches to problems of pharmaceutical interest.
• Track record of recent publications and/or presentations and external presence.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated impact on molecule design in an industry environment.
• Expertise with modeling software packages (e.g. Schrodinger, MOE, Rosetta).
• Skilled in scientific programming (e.g. Python, Pipeline Pilot) and data analytics (e.g. Spotfire, Pandas, Jupyter).
• Experience with QSAR, machine learning, deep learning.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimization of drug candidates using advanced computational techniques as a member of discovery teams.
• Design of molecules utilizing existing computational drug discovery tools and techniques.
• Informative data analysis and visualization.
• Development of innovative computational workflows for molecular modeling.
• Protein construct design.
• Ligand library design.
• Application of AI/ML, generative modeling, etc.
• Influencing teams in chemistry and adjacent functionalities by effectively communicating non-obvious insights from computational approaches to drive project decisions and inflections.
• Contributing to the overall wellbeing of our department by sharing knowledge, workflows, and being invested in the success of your peers.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family).
• Retirement benefits, including 401(k).
• Paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Industry: Chemical Manufacturing
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree