Alcon

Senior Specialist, Data Science & AI

Alcon • $138K — $257K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 4+ years of experience in machine learning and data management
  • Strong coding skills in Python and deep learning frameworks
  • Familiarity with version control systems such as GitHub
  • Expertise in molecular AI/ML techniques like structure-based drug design
  • Experience in a large research organization with a strong understanding of drug development
  • Passion for integrating emerging technologies into solutions
  • Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with a global team on applying AI to low molecular weight drug discovery
  • Develop and evaluate AI models for various stages of drug discovery
  • Establish evaluation frameworks for assessing model validity
  • Define metrics that connect model performance to scientific decisions
  • Integrate AI into drug discovery cycles to enhance efficiency
  • Facilitate delivery of AI solutions through cross-functional collaboration
  • Communicate progress to stakeholders and diverse audiences

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model with 3 days in the office
  • Opportunity to work with multidisciplinary teams
  • Access to cutting-edge AI technologies in drug discovery
  • Professional development opportunities in a leading research organization
  • Engagement with a global expert community
Full Job Description

Band

Level 4

Job Description Summary

Location: Cambridge
#LI-Hybrid 3 days/week in office
138,600.00 - 198,000.00 - 257,400.00 USD Annual

This role within the Applied AI, Low Molecular Weight (LMW) group of AI4R will contribute to the development, evaluation, and application of AI methods and workflows for LMW drug discovery. Working closely with multidisciplinary project teams, engineers, and other data scientists, the successful candidate will build and benchmark the right AI approaches, algorithms, models and workflows, to maximize impact on key domains areas of biomedical research that will potentially lead to developing better drugs, faster.


Job Description

Purpose of the role

Senior Expert (Applied AI, LMW Drug Discovery):

  • Work within a global team of AI researchers and SME with core domain expertise in applying AI to low molecular weight drug discovery.
  • Contribute to the conceptualization of AI methods and their applications for hit generation, lead optimization, pre-clinical analysis, including safety and PK/PD
  • Develop, adapt and evaluate state-of-the-art AI/machine learning models, including foundation models, generative AI, multimodal AI, and agentic systems
  • Establish rigorous evaluation and benchmarking frameworks to assess the robustness and scientific validity of models deployed in drug discovery applications
  • Define translatable metrics that connect model performance to downstream scientific decisions, including assay-level or prioritization improvements, and experimental efficiency
  • Help integrate of AI approaches into design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) cycles to accelerate LMW drug discovery
  • Facilitate delivery of AI solutions through collaboration with Engineering and Product Development teams
  • Communicate progress and impact to stakeholders and multidisciplinary audiences

Collaboration & partnership

  • A respectful team-player attitude is an absolute must
  • Regularly communicate, engage, align with AI4R teams, broader data science community, and senior scientists
  • Collaborate cross-functionally (medicinal chemists, DMPK, structural biology, and disease-area scientists, engineers and other AI experts) complementing complex projects with AI-based approaches to LMW drug discovery
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to translate analytical concepts for diverse audience and stakeholders (English is our primary language)

What youll bring to the role:


  • A deep curiosity and passion for biomedical sciences driven therapeutic discovery.
  • 4+ years of significant experience in innovation, development, deployment and continuous support of Machine Learning data management and modeling
  • Strong hands-on coding proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks
  • Strong understanding and experience in using version control systems for developing software (e.g. GitHub, git, subversion, bitbucket, etc.)
  • Demonstrated expertise / experience in several of molecular AI/ML areas, such as generative chemistry; structure-based drug designacross hit finding, hit to lead, lead optimization, and candidate selection;protein-ligand modelling, co-folding; docking, scoring, and pose assessmentwith rigorous model validation and tight coupling to experimental follow up; QSAR; multi-objective property optimization (uncertainty estimation, active learning concepts); free energy and affinity prediction
  • Demonstrated expertise / experience with AI driven molecular designapplied to the areas aboveExperience working in a large Research organization & deep understanding of drug development a plus
  • Passion for understanding emerging technologies with pragmatic insight into where those technologies can be integrated into business solutions
  • Ability to balance requirements, manage expectations, and drive effective results using a proactive attitude towards identifying and resolving issues
  • Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, with ability to execute and prioritize well in a complex matrixed environment.



Relevant areas of desired expertise:

Molecular representation learning for small molecules, graph neural networks, geometric deep learning, property prediction for ADME PK, physiochemical properties, safety, de novo design, chemical space exploration, foundation models for chemistry, uncertainty quantification, active learning, agentic AI, generative chemistry, counterfactuals and explainability, multi-objective optimization.


Salary Range

$138,600.00 - $257,400.00


Skills Desired

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biostatistics, Change Management, Curious Mindset, Data Governance, Data Literacy, Data Quality, Data Science, Data Visualization, Deep Learning, Graph Algorithms, Learning Agility, Machine Learning (ML), Machine Learning Algorithms, Python (Programming Language), Stakeholder Engagement, Statistical Analysis, Time Series Analysis

About Alcon

Alcon is a global medical company specializing in eye care products and services. The company's products include surgical equipment, contact lenses, and eye drops. Alcon was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. The company operates in over 70 countries and has over 20,000 employees. In 2019, Alcon became an independent publicly traded company after being spun off from Novartis.
Learn more about Alcon
Size
24,389 employees
Market Cap
$33.3 billion
Industry
Founded
1945
NASDAQ

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