Remote | Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery Scientist — $50–$80/hour

We are sharing a specialised part-time consulting opportunity for experienced drug discovery scientists with deep expertise in medicinal chemistry, mechanistic enzymology, structure-guided molecular design, fragment-based discovery, or related pharmaceutical R&D disciplines.

This role focuses on designing realistic, scientifically rigorous research problems built around complex and incomplete evidence. Selected experts will create research challenges, assemble source-grounded scientific data, establish objective grading criteria, and validate tasks so that successful solutions require genuine scientific reasoning rather than straightforward information retrieval.

Key Responsibilities

Drug Discovery Problem Design

• Develop realistic and technically challenging research problems within drug discovery and development
• Design tasks that require integration of incomplete, indirect, or potentially misleading scientific evidence
• Establish a defensible scientific conclusion supported by the available evidence
• Ensure problems require genuine mechanistic and analytical reasoning
• Design challenges that cannot be solved through simple pattern matching or factual lookup

Scientific Evidence Development

• Assemble structured data rooms using real, source-grounded scientific information
• Ensure decisive values, observations, and experimental evidence can be traced to credible sources
• Select evidence that supports rigorous analysis while preserving appropriate scientific ambiguity
• Construct evidence chains that lead to a defensible conclusion
• Maintain scientific consistency across all task materials

Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Design

• Develop problems involving structure-based medicinal chemistry
• Evaluate molecular structure, binding, activity, selectivity, and optimisation considerations where relevant
• Apply structure–activity reasoning to complex discovery scenarios
• Assess whether proposed interpretations are chemically and mechanistically defensible
• Incorporate realistic drug discovery constraints into research tasks

Mechanistic Enzymology

• Create and evaluate problems involving enzyme mechanisms, kinetics, inhibition, and biochemical evidence
• Integrate experimental observations into mechanistic reasoning
• Assess competing hypotheses using available data
• Identify evidence required to distinguish plausible mechanisms
• Apply rigorous biochemical judgement to conclusions

Structure-Guided Peptide & Antibody Design

• Develop research challenges involving structure-guided peptide or antibody design
• Evaluate molecular interactions, structural constraints, and experimental evidence
• Assess proposed design decisions for scientific plausibility
• Integrate structural and functional information into task design
• Create problems requiring meaningful interpretation rather than direct retrieval

Fragment-Based Discovery

• Design scenarios involving fragment identification, validation, and progression
• Evaluate evidence supporting binding, structural interpretation, and compound development
• Incorporate realistic uncertainty and competing experimental signals
• Assess whether conclusions are appropriately supported by available evidence
• Apply practical discovery-science judgement throughout task development

Grading Framework Development

• Create detailed grading documents for each research challenge
• Define criteria that evaluate the substance and scientific reasoning of submitted solutions
• Establish objective expectations for key findings and conclusions
• Distinguish scientifically meaningful reasoning from stylistic differences
• Ensure grading criteria accurately reflect the evidence provided

Task Validation & Calibration

• Run verification and calibration before submitting completed research tasks
• Confirm that intended conclusions are supported by the evidence
• Identify unintended shortcuts, ambiguities, or alternative interpretations
• Evaluate task difficulty and scientific robustness
• Refine tasks where validation reveals weaknesses or inconsistencies

Scientific Quality Ownership

• Serve as the subject-matter authority for scientific and difficulty-related decisions within assigned tasks
• Review feedback and revise materials when required
• Defend scientific conclusions using evidence and domain expertise
• Maintain rigorous standards across prompts, evidence packages, and grading materials
• Ensure final tasks are internally consistent and scientifically credible

Ideal Profile

• PhD or equivalent industry track record in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, structural biology, pharmaceutical sciences, or a closely related discipline
• Deep working expertise in at least one of the following:
  • Mechanistic enzymology
  • Structure-guided peptide or antibody design
  • Fragment-based drug discovery
  • Structure-based medicinal chemistry
• Strong experience interpreting complex experimental evidence within drug discovery research
• Ability to construct scientific problems whose conclusions can be rigorously defended
• Strong judgement when evaluating the quality of scientific reasoning rather than only final answers
• Comfortable working with complex, incomplete, and potentially conflicting scientific information
• Strong research, analytical, and technical writing skills
• Able to work independently and take ownership of scientific task quality
• Comfortable using browser-based research and development tools

Engagement Details

• Part-time independent contractor engagement
• Fully remote
• Minimum commitment of 20 hours per week, with opportunities for up to 40 hours per week
• Compensation: $50–$80/hour
• Work focuses on drug discovery research, scientific problem design, evidence development, grading frameworks, and task validation
• Required project-specific software or subscription access is reimbursed where applicable
• Projects may be extended, shortened, or concluded based on project needs and performance
• Work must be completed without using confidential or proprietary information belonging to any employer, client, institution, or other third party
• H1-B and STEM OPT support is unavailable for this engagement

About the Platform

This opportunity is available through 24-MAG LLC. We connect experienced professionals with remote consulting opportunities across technical, evaluation, and project-based workstreams.

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