Senior Research Scientist, Catalyst Discovery

About SandboxAQ SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders.

At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact.

About the Role:

As our Senior Catalyst Discovery Scientist, you will be at the forefront of leading heterogeneous catalyst discovery and optimization projects with our industrial partners in the chemical and energy sectors. You will join a dedicated team of subject matter experts, computational scientists, software developers, and machine learning experts, leveraging an ensemble of state-of-the-art proprietary computational tools to solve real-world challenges.

What You'll Do:

Project & Client Leadership

• Lead client engagements focused on the discovery and optimization of novel heterogeneous catalyst materials.
• Support business functions with technical diligence and proposal development for pre-sales customer engagements.
• Technical Execution & Innovation
• Deploy proprietary computational workflows to simulate the reactivity and dynamics of catalytic materials across atomic, mesoscale, and continuum scales.
• Collaborate with platform and software engineering teams to continuously improve the efficiency and performance of our discovery workflows.
• Communication & Mentorship
• Prepare and deliver high-impact reports, presentations, and publications to communicate research findings to internal, academic, and industry partners.
• Mentor junior scientists and interns in catalysis and reaction engineering, championing best research practices.

What You'll Bring:

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or equivalent discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

3+ years of industrial R&D experience in heterogeneous catalysis and/or reaction engineering.

• Direct experience developing and utilizing microkinetic models in collaboration with laboratory experiments for catalyst design or process optimization.
• Familiarity with modern atomistic simulation methods for catalyst discovery, either through direct experience or close collaboration with computational experts.
• A strong publication record demonstrating interdisciplinary collaboration and the ability to adapt to new technologies and methodologies in catalysis research.
• Basic programming skills, including familiarity with Python.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven experience supporting experimental groups with DFT-based atomistic simulations and microkinetic modeling for catalyst discovery applications.
• Hands-on experience or familiarity with experimental methods for heterogeneous catalysis research (e.g., synthesis, testing, and characterization).
• Advanced software development skills with Python in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment, especially for computational materials analysis.
• Experience or coursework in AI/ML, with specific familiarity with recent developments in machine-learned force fields for materials discovery.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for in-person meetings with industrial partners.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is expected to be $154k-$216k per year. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. This role may be eligible for annual discretionary bonuses and equity.

• SandboxAQ welcomes all.

We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where we have zero tolerance for discrimination. We invest in our employees' personal and professional growth. Once you work with us, you can’t go back to normalcy because great breakthroughs come from great teams and we are the best in AI and quantum technology. We offer competitive salaries, stock options depending on employment type, generous learning opportunities, medical/dental/vision, family planning/fertility, PTO (summer and winter breaks), financial wellness resources, 401(k) plans, and more. Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. Accommodations: We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in job application procedures for open roles. If you need such an accommodation, please let a member of our Recruiting team know.