Senior AI Scientist: Small‑Molecule Discovery & Agentic Systems

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 168,000 - 252,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex is seeking a scientific leader to accelerate AI and agentic systems across drug discovery, combining computational chemistry, cheminformatics and AI to guide design, evaluation, and decision-making in the DMTA cycle. The role emphasizes scientific leadership, product ownership, and governance of AI-enabled workflows.

Based in Boston with a hybrid onsite arrangement (3 days/week onsite), you will partner with project teams and senior leaders to deploy AI co-scientists, establish evaluation

Qualifications

• Ph.D. required in a relevant scientific discipline.
• 8+ years applying computational chemistry and cheminformatics to small-molecule discovery.
• Experience translating opportunities into scalable AI capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI-enabled scientific workflows across DMTA for drug discovery.
• Develop AI co-scientists supporting SAR analysis, design, and lead optimization.
• Define evaluation frameworks and validation strategies for AI tools.
• Drive platform strategy, adoption, and responsible AI operations.
• Influence scientists, engineers, and leaders across a matrixed organization.

Skills

Small-molecule DMTA

Computational chemistry

Cheminformatics

AI & agentic systems

Product thinking

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry, Chemistry, CS, Data Science or related

Job description

Vertex is seeking a scientific leader to accelerate AI and agentic systems across drug discovery, combining computational chemistry, cheminformatics and AI to guide design, evaluation, and decision-making in the DMTA cycle. The role emphasizes scientific leadership, product ownership, and governance of AI-enabled workflows.

Based in Boston with a hybrid onsite arrangement (3 days/week onsite), you will partner with project teams and senior leaders to deploy AI co-scientists, establish evaluation