Senior AI Research Scientist

The role

As a Senior AI Research Scientist, you’ll join one of Aqemia’s Drug Discovery Platform AI teams and develop cutting-edge AI models to predict molecular properties and protein–ligand interactions. You’ll be a hands-on technical expert pushing the boundaries of what AI can do for drug discovery: from improving on AlphaFold approaches for protein–ligand structure prediction, to building probabilistic models that power our multi-fidelity Bayesian optimisation engine. You’ll own a key project on the ML team roadmap, mentor others, and make sure new AI methods become practical tools used in real drug discovery programmes.

Responsibilities

• Develop novel ML models to predict molecular properties and protein–ligand interactions, with a focus on accuracy, uncertainty and generalisation to unseen chemical spaces.

• Contribute to improving the state of the art in protein–ligand structure prediction, building on and significantly improving open-source AlphaFold implementations.

• Contribute to Aqemia’s multi-fidelity Bayesian optimisation engine by building probabilistic deep learning models that capture uncertainty, in collaboration with our data scientists.

• Own a key project on the ML team roadmap, from research and prototyping through to production.

• Stay at the forefront of the literature: identify relevant publications, benchmark promising ideas and propose model or pipeline improvements.

• Collaborate with AI researchers, computational chemists and drug discovery teams to turn AI models into actionable scientific insights.

• Mentor team members on model design, implementation, debugging and good research and coding practices.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, AI/Machine Learning or a related quantitative field.

• 8+ years of experience in AI/ML research, in academia or in research-intensive industry (any sector).

• You’ve designed new methods yourself (for example, as shown by first-author papers, patents or models in use), not mainly applied or fine-tuned existing ones.

• Strong programming skills in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow).

• Ownership of research projects, and the drive to turn research into something used in production.

• Strong problem-solving skills, a collaborative mindset and clear communication.

Preferred Mindset

At Aqemia, we believe that great science thrives in the right mindset and culture. We are looking for candidates who embody the following principles:

Why Join Us ?

At AQEMIA, we work for a mission: joining us means having your own impact on changing the way drugs are discovered, and helping to shape the direction of our fast-growing company and team.

• Expanding Drug Discovery Pipeline: Focused on critical therapeutic areas like Oncology, CNS, Immuno-inflammation... with in vivo proof of concept/patent stage programs. Collaborations with top Pharma, including a $140M Sanofi deal.

• World-Class Interdisciplinary Team: work alongside exceptional talent at the intersection of technology and life sciences. Our teams combine deep expertise in AI, physics-based modeling, biology, and medicinal chemistry to push the boundaries of innovation.

• DeepTech Recognition: AQEMIA is proud to be part of the French Tech 120 and France 2030, highlighting our role as a key player in Europe’s DeepTech ecosystem.

• Prime Location with Flexibility: Our offices are located in the heart of Paris and London (King’s Cross), with flexible work arrangements including up to two remote days per week.

• Strong Financial Backing: $100M raised from leading European and International investors

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.