Senior Principal Scientist (AI)

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States; hybrid position requiring 3 days per week onsite. An onsite arrangement of 5 days per week is also available with ad hoc flexibility.

Base salary: $168,000–$252,000 per year, plus eligibility for an annual bonus and annual equity awards.

Company

Vertex is a global biotechnology company focused on scientific innovation and the development of therapeutic medicines.

What you will do

• Lead the strategic application of AI and agentic systems across small-molecule drug discovery and extend applicable capabilities to protein therapeutics and other modalities.
• Develop and deploy AI co-scientists supporting knowledge synthesis, SAR analysis, scientific question answering, experiment planning, virtual screening, molecular design, and lead optimization.
• Define scientific evaluation frameworks, benchmarks, validation strategies, and success metrics for AI-enabled research tools.
• Translate scientific needs into scalable AI and agentic capabilities in partnership with Drug Discovery, Data & Methods, and Digital Technology & Engineering.
• Define operational guardrails for model usage, data access, computational resources, cost management, approval workflows, monitoring, and intervention.
• Drive scientist adoption through engagement, education, change leadership, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry, Chemistry, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related scientific discipline.
• 8+ years of experience applying computational chemistry, cheminformatics, and related computational methods to small-molecule drug discovery and candidate advancement.
• Deep knowledge of the design-make-test-analyze cycle, molecular design, lead optimization, and computational drug discovery.
• Strong understanding of large language models, agentic systems, retrieval-augmented workflows, and AI-assisted scientific applications.
• Experience translating scientific opportunities into scalable computational, data science, software, or AI capabilities, and leading complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Knowledge of scientific rigor, data provenance, reproducibility, AI governance, responsible AI, and research data security.

Nice to have

• Experience with protein therapeutics, biologics, or other emerging therapeutic modalities.
• Experience influencing scientific strategy and driving adoption of new computational technologies without direct authority.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid flexibility of up to two remote days per week, subject to the Flex @ Vertex program.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits with paid time off, including summer and winter company shutdowns.
• Educational assistance programs, including student loan repayment.
• Commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, and 401(k).
• Commitment to equal employment opportunity, inclusion, and reasonable workplace accommodations.