Data Scientist, AI Drug Discovery & Applications (China based position)

Location:

Shanghai or Suzhou, China

 

About the Role

 

We are seeking a talented and highly motivated Data scientist to join our Drug Discovery Applications team, reporting to our head of application science.

In this hybrid role, you will both advance state-of-the-art (SOTA) AI/ML models and apply them directly to drug discovery projects, bridging algorithmic innovation with therapeutic impact.

 

About TandemAI

 

TandemAI is a leading AI-native biotechnology company with a commercially validated platform for innovative drug discovery across small molecules, peptides, and antibody-peptide conjugates (APCs). Our mission is to transform how therapeutics are discovered by integrating advanced machine learning approaches, such as world models, and physics-based simulations with our large scale experimental labs.

 

TandemAI has established partnerships with over 200 pharmaceutical companies and research institutions worldwide, including four of the global top 10 and multiple top-20 multinational pharmaceutical companies. Our robust pipeline comprises more than 50 collaborative and proprietary programs, several of which are advancing through clinical development and we have been featured in the Nature Index Global AI Drug Discovery Innovation Map, recognized on the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, and have established strategic R&D alliances with world-

class deep learning institutions such as Mila.

 

What You Will Do

 

AI/ML Development

 

• Design, implement, and optimize AI/ML models (e.g., GNNs, transformers, generative models, reinforcement learning) for drug discovery applications, including molecular property prediction, de novo molecular generation, and virtual screening, etc.
• Track and reproduce cutting-edge research from literature and open-source communities; adapt and benchmark novel algorithms to drug discovery problems.
• Build scalable data processing and model training pipelines; implement best practices for data curation, feature engineering, and model evaluation.
• Contribute to internal R&D initiatives to push model performance beyond current SOTA.

Drug Discovery Research

 

• Apply computational chemistry and AI/ML methods to advance both internal and external drug discovery projects.
• Collaborate with experimental teams to design experiments, interpret computational and experimental data, and accelerate project progression.
• Translate biological problems into well-defined ML tasks and interpret model outputs in a biological context.
• Document analyses, prepare case studies and presentation materials, and present findings in project meetings and external communications.

What We Are Looking For

 

• Education

  Ph.D. or Master’s in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computational Chemistry, or a related discipline (Ph.D. preferred).

• Experience

  Ph.D. with 0–2 years (including postdoctoral work) or Master’s with 2–4 years in AI/ML research or drug discovery.

• Technical Skills

  :

• Deep understanding of mainstream AI/ML algorithms, including deep neural networks, GNNs, transformers, generative models (VAEs, GANs, diffusion models), and reinforcement learning;
• Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency with PyTorch or TensorFlow;
• Experience with large-scale data processing, model training, and hyperparameter optimization;

• Core Competencies

  :

• Strong scientific communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts to broad audiences;
• Team-oriented mindset with ability to work in multidisciplinary environments;
• Strong problem-solving skills and intellectual curiosity;
• Chinese and English proficiency.

• Preferred Qualifications

  :

• Familiarity with computational chemistry methods, molecular representations and chemical/protein data;
• Proven experience developing SOTA models with publications in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, etc.) or cheminformatics /bioinformatics journals;
• Experience applying ML to drug discovery, cheminformatics, etc.

Additional Information

 

• We offer opportunities to attend academic/industry conferences and partner meetings.
• We offer systematic training on drug discovery and clear career development path provided.