Research Scientist - Computational Chemistry

The role

Build a computational chemistry layer connecting molecular structure, physicochemical properties, formulation context, and observed mosquito or insect behavior. You will develop predictive models and workflows to help choose informative compounds to test.

What you will do

• Develop molecular representations and predictive models for compound effects on mosquito or insect landing and behavioral endpoints
• Combine chemical structures and descriptors with formulation, dose, assay, environmental, and behavioral data
• Design prospective evaluations to measure if model-ranked compounds outperform conventional selection approaches
• Quantify uncertainty, identify out-of-domain predictions, and propose experiments to distinguish chemical hypotheses
• Partner with formulation chemists and machine-learning researchers to recommend compounds, doses, formulations, or variants
• Build reproducible computational workflows with traceable structures, descriptors, model versions, and experimental outcomes

Required qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent research experience in computational chemistry, chemoinformatics, physical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical engineering, or a related field
• Experience with molecular descriptors, similarity methods, QSAR, molecular machine learning, or graph-based models
• Strong Python skills and experience with tools such as RDKit or equivalent chemical-computing libraries
• Ability to design leakage-resistant evaluations and interpret model performance in chemical terms
• Clear scientific writing and close collaboration with experimental teams

Nice to have

• Experience with active learning, Bayesian optimization, uncertainty calibration, or prospective molecular discovery
• Knowledge of volatility, solubility, controlled release, odorants, or insect-active small molecules
• Experience connecting computation to iterative wet-lab experiments
• Interest in building open, reusable scientific methods rather than a one-time screening model

About the company

Monarch Crops offers opportunities to do life's work while helping solve technical and moral challenges.