Lead Computational Drug Design Scientist — Hybrid (Boston)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US); Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 217,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Total Rewards program

Hybrid work options

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Vertex Pharmaceuticals seeks a highly motivated Computational Chemist to join the Computational Drug Design group in Boston. Lead hit/lead identification and optimization using molecular modeling, cheminformatics, data science, and AI-enabled methods.

Collaborate across teams to guide decision-making and mentor junior scientists in a hybrid Boston role. The candidate will work with global Data and Computational Sciences, interact with interdisciplinary teams, and contribute to strategy and best

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry is required with 6+ years of relevant experience in computational drug design.
• Strong expertise in structure-based drug design and optimization of small molecules.
• Experience leveraging modern AI capabilities for design and discovery workstreams.
• Proven ability to influence design and discovery strategy and lead across programs.

Responsibilities

• Apply computational chemistry methods to accelerate hit/lead identification and optimization.
• Provide scientific leadership across multiple discovery programs and influence computational design approaches.
• Collaborate with medicinal chemists and teams to generate design hypotheses and guide decisions.
• Integrate structural, biological, and ADME/DMPK data to optimize compounds.
• Advance AI-enabled approaches for molecular design and decision support in drug discovery.
• Communicate findings to project teams and leadership; mentor junior scientists.

Skills

Python scripting

Interpersonal leadership

Data analysis

Drug discovery knowledge

Communication

AI/machine learning in drug design

Education

Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry

Tools

Molecular modeling software

Python tooling

Job description

Vertex Pharmaceuticals seeks a highly motivated Computational Chemist to join the Computational Drug Design group in Boston. Lead hit/lead identification and optimization using molecular modeling, cheminformatics, data science, and AI-enabled methods.

Collaborate across teams to guide decision-making and mentor junior scientists in a hybrid Boston role. The candidate will work with global Data and Computational Sciences, interact with interdisciplinary teams, and contribute to strategy and best