Remote Organic & Computational Chemistry Research Scientist (PhD) | Technical & Domain Placement

Join ZR Talent Group's remote specialist network as a Remote Organic & Computational Chemistry Research Scientist (PhD) | Technical & Domain Placement earning $45 - $90/hour. Working asynchronously from anywhere in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or South Africa, you will apply your practical background in Computational Chemistry, Structural Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Proteomics & Metabolomics to benchmark frontier artificial intelligence models, identify failure modes, and elevate domain-specific accuracy.

Prior experience building machine learning systems is not required—our research partners value authentic practitioner judgment, domain rigor, and clear analytical writing.

Key Responsibilities & Deliverables

• Design, evaluate, and critique chemistry and computational chemistry problems, workflows, and reasoning chains to support AI benchmarking initiatives.
• Provide expert-level insights on reaction mechanisms, synthesis planning, spectroscopy analysis, molecular simulations, and electronic structure methods.
• Assess and optimize experimental protocols, simulation parameters, and software configurations for accuracy and reproducibility.
• Analyze chemical, spectroscopic, and simulation data and provide actionable recommendations.
• Leverage domain knowledge to guide the development and validation of chemistry-related frontier AI reasoning systems and tools.
• Communicate complex scientific concepts clearly, both in writing and verbally, to technical and non-technical collaborators.
• Document findings, methodologies, and best practices to ensure knowledge transfer across the customer’s team.
• Areas of Expertise (we welcome applicants from any of the following):
• Organic synthesis & reaction mechanisms
• Inorganic & organometallic chemistry
• Physical & theoretical chemistry
• Analytical chemistry & spectroscopy
• Computational chemistry & molecular dynamics
• Cheminformatics & drug discovery
• Materials science & polymer chemistry

Required Qualifications & Technical Criteria

• PhD in chemistry, computational chemistry, chemical biology, materials science, or a closely related field.
• Hands-on research lab experience, including wet lab experience for experimental subfields, or extensive simulation-heavy research for computational subfields.
• Deep expertise in at least one of the areas listed above.
• Fluent written and verbal English communication (C1 or higher).
• Proficiency in Python and/or industry-standard tools in your subfield (e.g., Gaussian, ORCA, Psi4, GROMACS, LAMMPS, RDKit).
• Excellent quantitative, analytical, and scientific reasoning skills.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication abilities, with the ability to clearly document and explain technical concepts.
• Track record of rigorous scientific problem-solving in complex chemistry domains.

Preferred Experience & Bonus Attributes

• Academic experience (postdoc, research scientist, faculty, or equivalent), strongly preferred.
• Peer-reviewed publications, patents, or contributions to open-source scientific software.
• Practical background using AI/ML-assisted chemistry workflows or benchmarking.
• Background in drug discovery, reaction prediction, or retrosynthesis.

Compensation, Remote Eligibility & Schedule

• Compensation Band: $45 - $90/hour
• Work Model: 100% Remote / Work From Home with flexible asynchronous scheduling
• Eligible Remote Locations: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa
• Current Openings: 50 active specialist positions
• Hiring Organization: ZR Talent Group
• Core Skills & Technologies: Computational Chemistry, Structural Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Proteomics & Metabolomics, Documentation, Verbal communication, Biology, organic chemistry, physical chemistry