Pod lead - Chemistry Science (Terminal Bench Science)

Zettamine Labs; United States; Remote; USD 83,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

ZettaMine is seeking a POD Lead Chemistry Expert for a short-term remote freelancing project in Frontier AI Research, Computational Chemistry & AI Model Evaluation. The role requires PhD/postdoc level chemistry expertise, strong coding in Python/C++/Julia/Fortran, and deep computational chemistry background.

Expect 40 hrs/week with daily overlap to PST, and a focus on high-quality scientific task design and review.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent research experience in Chemistry or related field.
• Strong programming in Python, C/C++, Julia or Fortran.
• Proficiency with Linux and terminal environments.
• Experience in Computational Chemistry and Molecular Simulation.
• Ability to review code, analyses, or manuscripts for quality.
• Knowledge of quantum chemistry, thermodynamics, and modeling.
• Experience designing tests or benchmarks for scientific tasks.
• Experience mentoring technical teams and documenting requirements.
• Excellent written communication for technical feedback.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a pod of 5–10 technical trainers for terminal-based tasks.
• Review tasks end to end: statements, structures, spectra, data, and tests.
• Validate tasks in quantum chemistry, molecular simulation, and thermodynamics.
• Ensure tasks reflect authentic chemistry workflows and multi-step reasoning.
• Verify software versions, methods, basis sets, dependencies and envs.
• Check chemical correctness: geometry, SCF, vibrational frequencies.
• Review graders to ensure evaluation of energies, geometries, properties.
• Identify inaccuracies, unrealistic assumptions, and inappropriate tolerances.
• Screen for chemical safety and escalate hazardous content when needed.
• Provide actionable feedback, track revisions, and manage blockers.
• Onboard and mentor trainers, allocate work, monitor quality.
• Maintain task design guidelines and best practices.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Julia

Fortran

Linux

Terminal

Computational Chemistry

Molecular Simulation

Cheminformatics

Data Analysis

Education

PhD or postdoctoral experience

Advanced research in Chemistry

Tools

PySCF

Psi4

ORCA

xTB

CP2K

NWChem

GROMACS

OpenMM

AmberTools

RDKit

Open Babel

ASE

MDAnalysis

Job description

Hello,

Greetings from ZettaMine!!!

Freelancing Opportunity: We are hiring a POD Lead Chemistry Expert (Terminal Bench Science) for a short-term Frontier AI Research, Computational Chemistry & AI Model Evaluation initiative.

Location: India

Role: POD Lead Chemistry Expert (Terminal Bench Science)

Educational Eligibility: PhD, postdoctoral experience, or equivalent advanced research experience in Chemistry or a closely related field, preferably Computational Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, or Chemical Informatics.

Mode: Remote-Freelancing

Start: Expected next week

Duration: 3 Weeks

Mandatory Eligibility Criteria

Technical Qualification:

• Strong programming skills in Python, C/C++, Julia, or Fortran, with proficiency in Linux and terminal environments.
• Hands-on expertise in Computational Chemistry, Molecular Simulation, Cheminformatics, or Chemical Data Analysis.
• Strong understanding of quantum chemistry, molecular structures, chemical thermodynamics, numerical methods, and computational modeling.
• Experience reviewing code, scientific analyses, computational models, manuscripts, or research outputs.
• Ability to validate molecular structures, stereochemistry, charge states, spin multiplicity, energy calculations, geometry optimization, and simulation results.
• Experience checking numerical convergence, force-field parameters, software dependencies, reproducibility, and scientific accuracy.
• Experience designing or reviewing automated tests, scientific benchmarks, or computational evaluation tasks is preferred.
• Experience mentoring technical teams, reviewing deliverables, and maintaining quality standards.
• Excellent written communication skills for providing precise technical feedback and documenting requirements.

Availability

• Minimum 40 hours per week.
• At least 4 hours of availability per day.
• Minimum 4 hours of overlap with PST business hours.

What Youll Work On

• Lead and mentor a pod of approximately 5–10 technical trainers developing realistic, terminal-based scientific tasks for a frontier AI training and evaluation initiative.
• Review tasks end to end, including task statements, molecular structures, spectra, datasets, force-field parameters, computational environments, reference solutions, and automated tests.
• Validate tasks involving quantum chemistry, molecular simulation, reaction mechanisms, spectroscopy, cheminformatics, computational thermodynamics, and molecular properties.
• Ensure tasks reflect authentic chemistry research workflows and require meaningful multi-step scientific reasoning.
• Verify software versions, computational methods, basis sets, functionals, dependencies, and environment configurations for reproducibility.
• Validate chemical correctness, unit conversions, charge and spin multiplicity, stereochemistry, SCF convergence, geometry optimization, and vibrational frequency calculations.
• Review automated graders to ensure they evaluate scientific outputs such as energies, molecular geometries, thermodynamic properties, rate constants, spectral assignments, and molecular properties.
• Identify scientific inaccuracies, unrealistic assumptions, incorrect tolerances, and opportunities to bypass intended calculations.
• Screen tasks for chemical safety and elevate hazardous or dual-use content when necessary.
• Provide actionable technical feedback, track revisions, and ensure quality issues are resolved before task approval.
• Onboard and mentor trainers, allocate work, monitor quality and productivity, and resolve technical blockers.
• Maintain technical documentation, task design guidelines, and best practices throughout task development.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with PySCF, Psi4, ORCA, xTB, CP2K, NWChem, GROMACS, OpenMM, AmberTools, RDKit, Open Babel, ASE, or MDAnalysis.
• Experience with free-energy calculations, reaction mechanism analysis, machine-learned potentials, or spectroscopy simulation.
• Familiarity with Docker, Git, CI/CD systems, automated testing, and HPC environments.
• Experience designing scientific benchmarks, programming tasks, or simulation-based evaluations.

Thanks & Regards,

Karthik K

ZettaMine