Principal Scientist - Computational Chemistry

About the role

Pfizer’s purpose is to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Research and Development is at the heart of fulfilling that purpose—translating science and technology into therapies and vaccines that matter most. Whether in discovery, development, or clinical research, you will be a key contributor to our mission of bringing best-in-class medicines to patients worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Apply computational techniques to impact drug discovery projects.
• Generate and evaluate hypotheses to assist molecular design decisions and influence project direction by deploying and/or developing computational methods and workflows.
• Apply a wide variety of computational approaches including docking, cofolding, molecular dynamics, foundational AI models, both physics and AI/ML approach methods to conformational analyses, hit identification/optimization, structure-based drug design, ligand-based design, pharmacophore models, and QSAR modeling to generate and evaluate hypotheses and influence design decisions.
• Develop novel computational approaches and workflow to solve project-specific and general challenges in drug discovery.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in computational chemistry or relevant discipline
• 2-3 years postdoc experience and/or 2+ year industrial experience as a computational chemist
• Extensive knowledge in one or more areas of the computational chemistry disciplines, such as structure-based design, ligand-based design, quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics, QSAR, homology modeling, pharmacophore modeling, etc.
• Good knowledge in target family of therapeutically interests, such GPCR, Kinase and Intramembrane receptors, or Ion Channels is a plus.
• Knowledge in other Comp Chem specialty areas such as Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacokinetics & Pharmacodynamics, Drug Safety, Chemical Biology, Computational Biology, and Bioinformatics.
• Strong knowledge in modern physics-based and ML-based computational models.
• Familiar with Linux operation, High-performance computing environment and strong scripting skills including shells and Python.
• Familiarity with coding agents, context engineering, and multi-agent workflows would be a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with other scientific disciplines to bring forward novel solutions that impact project progression.
• Experience using common AI tools, including generative technologies such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, to support problem solving and enhance productivity.
• Demonstrated curiosity for exploring how these tools can improve outcomes and understanding of responsible AI practices, including risk management and ethical use.