Remote Quantum Chemistry Problem Designer (Contract)

mercor; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 73,000 - 104,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking a Computational Chemistry & Electronic Structure Expert for a remote contract role, offering 15–20 hours per week. The candidate will design and implement challenging problems in computational chemistry using PySCF, guiding AI models through complex simulations and experiments.

Ideal applicants hold MS or PhD or equivalent research experience, with strong Python skills and a track record of working with scientific software libraries.

Qualifications

• Graduate-level training in a relevant STEM field (MS, PhD, or equivalent research experience).
• Proven proficiency with scientific software libraries through research publications or professional work.
• Strong Python skills for writing problem setups and solution validators.
• Ability to work independently and refine designs based on feedback.
• Comfortable in a Linux/terminal environment with remote compute sandboxes.

Responsibilities

• Design challenging computational problems in Computational Chemistry & Electronic Structure using PySCF for quantum chemistry calculations.
• Develop problems requiring strategic planning for AI to uncover hidden information through simulations and experiments.
• Test and refine problems against state-of-the-art AI models to achieve target difficulty.
• Collaborate with AI research teams to ensure problems align with real scientific workflows.
• Work independently to create problems that challenge AI reasoning beyond surface-level pattern matching.

Skills

Python

Linux/terminal

Research experience

Scientific software libraries

Education

MS/PhD or equivalent

Tools

PySCF

Job description

Mercor is seeking a Computational Chemistry & Electronic Structure Expert for a remote contract role, offering 15–20 hours per week. The candidate will design and implement challenging problems in computational chemistry using PySCF, guiding AI models through complex simulations and experiments.

Ideal applicants hold MS or PhD or equivalent research experience, with strong Python skills and a track record of working with scientific software libraries.