Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) Cheminformatics Data Scientist

Company Description

As a world market leader in crop protection, we help farmers to counter these threats and ensure enough safe, nutritious, affordable food for all – while minimizing the use of land and other agricultural inputs. Syngenta Crop Protection keeps plants safe from planting to harvesting.  From the moment a seed is planted through to harvest, crops need to be protected from weeds, insects and diseases as well as droughts and floods, heat and cold. Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Switzerland.

Job Description

 Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) Cheminformatics Data Scientist – 2 years

We are currently seeking a 2-year fixed term Postdoctoral Fellowship contract in our chemistry department in Stein AG, Switzerland where you will be given the opportunity to develop new skills while working at the cutting edge of science and innovation. At Syngenta, our work matters; we are looking for the talents of today and tomorrow.

Role Purpose:

You will work on designing and building informatics systems to extract knowledge from chemical reaction data. Your work will be part of our effort to provide solid synthetic viability grounds to de novo design tools. In your role you will project large volumes of reaction data into NO-SQL databases (graph- and document-based) and design the corollary cheminformatics pipelines to mine information from data and extract usable insights. You will use Machine Learning algorithms to generate models and to interpret them. As an example, you will build recommendation engines based on graph neural networks derived from networks of chemical reactions. Besides creating the proof-of-concept, you will support the integration of your work into existing platforms. You will operate in a team composed by Chemists and Computer Scientists and will have the opportunity to work directly with external partners.

Qualifications

Requirements: 

• PhD in cheminformatics or machine learning
• Demonstrated experience in chemical informatics, algorithms, and software
• Demonstrated working knowledge and application of statistics and data modeling to large scale life-sciences data
• Strong knowledge in chemical informatics, including methods to manipulate chemical structure information and representations (ideally RDKit)
• Mastering of chemical concepts (structure, reactivity, properties)
• Solid background in programming (Python)
• Good knowledge of software development best practices in collaborative environments (testing, versioning, etc.)
• Robust knowledge of data structures (ideally, NO-SQL like Neo4j and MongoDB) and data pipelines (airflow, prefect, etc.)
• Knowledge of Machine Learning techniques (ideally including graph neural network)
• Good skills in data visualization and representation for analytics purposes
• Good knowledge on LINUX operating system
• Be an effective communicator, self-motivated, and able to drive insights into actions
• Fluency in spoken and written English language

Additional Information

What we offer:

• We offer a variety of financial and non-financial benefits including: 
• We offer a position which contributes to valuable and impactful work in a stimulating and international environment  
• A superb working environment at our Global Research Center in Stein with well-equipped laboratories with an open culture and diverse workforce 
• The opportunity to work with and learn from highly qualified and experienced employees and gain scientific and technical excellence 
• Learning culture (Together we Grow) and wide range of training options 
• You will profit from a competitive pension fund plan, attractive bonus system, onsite doctor, canteen, and other benefits (Family friendly initiatives, Child, and Family allowance…) 

Interested? We look forward to receiving your online application including all relevant documents (cover letter, CV, diploma, certificates) – reference number 18043916. 

Please be aware that the job title may differ from the position title.
 
Learn more about our team, our mission and how we achieve our goals.  

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.