# Computational Synthetic Chemist at Ginkgo Bioworks

- Company: Ginkgo Bioworks
- What the company does: Build autonomous labs to accelerate biotech R&D. Program biology like software. Run experiments on our cloud lab or build your own. Trusted by 130+ customers. Backed by SoftBank VF and Felicis.
- Company website: https://www.ginkgo.bio/
- Type: Startups
- Level: Mid level
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts
- Work setup: On-site
- Pay: $115K to $165K base salary per year (USD)
- Posted: 2026-08-24
- Apply by: 2026-10-12
- Apply: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ginkgobioworks/jobs/5219763007
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/ginkgo-bioworks-computational-synthetic-chemist/

## About the role

We are hiring a Senior Engineer I, Synthetic Chemistry to design and execute multi-step syntheses of novel drug-like molecules, including singleton analogs and small focused sets that cannot be made in plate format.

## What they're looking for

- Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, or a closely related field, plus 3 years of relevant industry or postdoctoral experience, or an M.S. with 6 years, or a B.S. with 9 years, of relevant experience
- Demonstrated ability to design and execute multi-step syntheses, including routes of approximately five or more steps through characterized final compounds, and to deliver compounds on schedule
- Independent route-design judgment under real constraints on materials, time, building blocks, and execution resources, supported by a broad synthetic-organic reaction toolkit and strong purification and characterization skills
- Routine hands-on use of computer-aided synthesis planning or retrosynthesis tools, with the judgment to recognize when a proposed route or prediction should not be trusted
- Fluency with chemical structure and reaction data, including molecular and reaction representations, compound registration, stereochemistry, salts, tautomers, and building-block catalogs
- Experience with reaction screening, HTE, design of experiments, or related optimization workflows, plus disciplined structured capture of conditions, outcomes, analytical results, and failures

Tags: Datapoints Small Molecule Developability