Computational Chemistry, Structural Biology & Drug Discovery Scientist (PhD)

micro1; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

micro1 is a data lab that crafts expert-level problems in computational chemistry, structural biology, and drug discovery for AI training data. You’ll design challenging questions with clear solutions and rigorously evaluate model outputs against primary literature.

The role emphasizes deep scientific writing, documented reasoning, and collaboration to ensure high-quality, verifiable content for next-gen AI systems. This is a remote contractor position open worldwide.

Qualifications

• PhD in a related field is mandatory.
• Hands-on research in an academic or industry lab; wetlab experience is a plus.
• Professional English communication (C1 or higher).

Responsibilities

• Design expert-level scientific problems in computational chemistry, structural biology, and drug discovery.
• Review AI model outputs for scientific accuracy and depth of reasoning.
• Develop rubrics and reference answers grounded in primary literature.
• Apply domain expertise across molecular modeling, protein design, and docking workflows.
• Provide clear written explanations so others can validate reasoning.
• Maintain quality through iterative feedback and peer review cycles.

Skills

Computational Chemistry

Structural Bioinformatics

Cheminformatics

Proteomics & Metabolomics

Documentation

Verbal communication

Drug Discovery

Biology

Metagenomics

Education

PhD in Computational Chemistry/Structural Biology/related

Tools

GROMACS

AMBER

NAMD

OpenMM

AlphaFold

Rosetta

AutoDock

Glide

Schrödinger Suite

MOE

RDKit

QSAR/QSPR

ADMET

LC-MS/MS

MaxQuant

Python

Job description

Required Skills

• Computational Chemistry
• Structural Bioinformatics
• Cheminformatics
• Proteomics & Metabolomics
• Documentation
• Verbal communication
• Drug Discovery
• Biology
• Metagenomics

About micro1

micro1 is a data lab that helps AI labs & Enterprises train foundational models and agents. We provide frontier evaluations and reinforcement learning environments to improve LLM capabilities, as well as contextual evaluations to monitor and improve AI agents in enterprise settings.

Our AI recruiting agent sources and vets domain experts for our data platform that enables rapid production of high-quality training data. Our research spans high-value, specialized domains (legal, medical, finance, coding, etc.), where expert-level data is the hardest to produce and most valuable for advanced model performance. Our pipeline performance system ensures both quality and velocity.

Role Title: Computational Chemistry, Structural Biology & Drug Discovery Scientist (PhD)

Role Type: Contractor

Location: Remote (Worldwide)

Job Summary: In this role, you'll apply your expertise to help train next-generation AI systems. Your work will shape how models learn, reason, and perform through high-quality, real-world input.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and write challenging, expert-level scientific problems in computational chemistry, structural biology, and drug discovery, with clear, verifiable solutions.
• Review and evaluate AI model outputs for scientific accuracy, rigor, and depth of reasoning, identifying subtle errors that non-specialists would miss.
• Develop detailed rubrics and reference answers grounded in the primary literature and established methodology.
• Apply domain expertise across areas such as molecular modeling and simulation, protein structure prediction and design, virtual screening and docking, QSAR/ADMET modeling, and proteomics/metabolomics data analysis.
• Provide clear written explanations of your reasoning, so that other experts can follow and validate it.
• Meet quality standards through iterative feedback and peer review cycles.

Required Qualifications (MUST)

• PhD in Computational Chemistry, Structural Biology, Biophysics, Bioinformatics, Medicinal Chemistry, Biochemistry, or a closely related field.
• Hands-on research experience in an academic or industry lab (wetlab experience is a plus).
• Professional written and spoken English (C1 or higher).

Preferred Skills

• Postdoctoral or industry research experience (pharma/biotech) in drug discovery or structural biology.
• Strong publication record, particularly first-author papers in relevant journals.
• Molecular modeling and simulation: GROMACS, AMBER, NAMD, OpenMM, free energy methods (FEP/TI).
• Structure prediction and design: AlphaFold, Rosetta, homology modeling, cryo-EM / X-ray crystallography data interpretation.
• Docking and virtual screening: AutoDock, Glide, Schrödinger Suite, MOE.
• Cheminformatics: RDKit, QSAR/QSPR, ADMET prediction, fingerprinting, library design.
• Proteomics and metabolomics: LC-MS/MS, MaxQuant, DIA/DDA workflows, PTM analysis, untargeted metabolomics.
• Programming: Python (required in practice), plus R, Bash, or similar; experience with ML for molecular property prediction (GNNs, generative models) is a plus.
• Experience with benchmarking, model evaluation, or scientific writing/reviewing.
• Ability to explain complex scientific concepts clearly and precisely in writing.